EC Received No Request For Flood Relief From Romanian Govt

The European Commission has not received any request for aid from the Romanian Government, although it is “open” to the idea of activating the Mechanism for civil protection on request, Commission spokesman Ferran Tarradellas Espuny said Friday.

7 views

The spokesman said the EC is monitoring the situation in Romania, but it is up to the governments of member states to request aid from the EU.

The Community Mechanism for civil protection can be activated in case of disasters. Its purpose is to facilitate assistance interventions in the EU and outside. Such action is coordinated by the EC through the Monitoring and Information Center. The participating states include all EU members plus Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Romanian democrat liberal MP Sulfina Barbu told MEDIAFAX Friday she was "disappointed" to find the Government has not asked the European Union for assistance with the floods in the northeastern part of the country, adding that she will send a message to the prime minister with this suggestion.

Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said procedures have been started to tap into the EU Solidarity Fund, which can be accessed in case of force majeure if damages sustained exceed EUR3 billion, which is not the case of Romania, or if damages exceed 0.6% of gross domestic product, where Romania qualifies. The minister said Romania could get EUR75 million relief from the fund.

Twenty-three people have died in the severe floods that hit Romania over the past two weeks and thousands have been evacuated from their homes.

During the past 24 hours, over 104 towns and villages in 14 counties countrywide saw heavy rains, which caused river water levels to rise and 7,762 people to be evacuated, representatives of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations said Friday.

Overall, the heavy rainfalls affected 3,903 individual farms, yards and gardens, 396 residences and 607 basements. The floods submerged over 12,300 hectares of farmland and 3,622 hectares of pastures and damaged 24 company buildings, 16 roads, over 500 bridges and 6,616 fountains.

If you liked this story, please follow MEDIAFAX.RO on FACEBOOK »

The content of mediafax.ro is for your information only. Republishing or using this content is forbidden without express consent of MEDIAFAX. For this consent, please ask for it by mail at vanzari@mediafax.ro.