Romania To Submit Flood Relief Request To EU Solidarity Fund - PM

Boc said he has asked all of Romania's prefects to inventory the damage caused by the recent floods. The Prime Minister added that flood victims can be accommodated in 700 modular homes countrywide.

Boc took part in the Emergency Committee meeting, in eastern Galati County, and discussed the measures to be taken against potential upcoming floods in the area.

After the meeting, Boc left for the Sendreni village, where task forces put up a third protection dam Friday night, erected to defend some one hundred local homes from being flooded by the nearby Siret River.

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.

Romania saw 36 towns and villages in 12 counties affected by heavy rainfall, 1,600 individual farms flooded and 54 people evacuated over the past 24 hours, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) said Saturday.

Interior Minister Vasile Blaga recently said that 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. The European Commission spokesman Ferran Tarradellas Espuny said Friday that the EC 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.

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.

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