BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) – The European Commission plans to set up a
new disaster relief fund, which could eventually be worth $1.5 billion,
after floods caused havoc in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and
Slovakia.
The countries are still counting the cost of the floods, which saw
rivers rise and hit cities such as Prague and Dresden. The EU does not
have a disaster fund and the 15-nation bloc has to scrape around for
money to meet such costs.
“This will be an expression of European solidarity,” commission
president Romano Prodi said.
The fund would be available for current EU states as well as those
negotiating entry, such as the Czech Republic, he said.
The fund would be for “natural, technological and environmental
catastrophes.”
Prodi said he hoped the European Parliament and EU member states would
agree to the formation of the fund and that it could be set up as
quickly as possibly.
