Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund

The EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was created in 2002 to enable the EU to respond to major disasters inside the EU and in countries involved in accession negotiations. The instrument is generally meeting its objectives well but is considered not to be sufficiently responsive and visible and as far as certain criteria for its activation are concerned too complicated and not sufficiently clear.

In 2005 the Commission presented a proposal for a new EUSF Regulation. While the proposal was favourably received by the European Parliament it was not adopted in the Council. The Commission officially withdrew the proposal in June 2012.

In October 2011 the Commission presented a Communication on the Future of the Solidarity Fund which contains an evaluation of the operations of the current instrument and proposes options for improving its functioning. An analysis of the current policy was also included in a separate chapter to the EUSF annual report for 2008.

This proposal is situated in the context of the new Multiannual Financial Framework for the years 2014-2020. Moreover, the proposal complements the recent common proposal of the Commission and the High Representative for implementing arrangements of the Solidarity Clause enshrined in Article 222 TFEU which underlines the role of the Solidarity Fund as one of the key Union instruments in applying this provision of the Treaty.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)522: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:522:FIN

ESO: Background information: Making the EU Solidarity Fund faster and simpler for support after disasters http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-making-the-eu-solidarity-fund-faster-and-simpler-for-support-after-disasters/

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