Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-02-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has made to the EU Commission on the UK applying for and drawing down monies from the European Solidarity Fund following the recent flooding and storm damage; and what the deadline is for making any such bid.

Dan Rogerson

EU Solidarity Fund money is available to all Member States suffering from large-scale natural disasters, but is subject to a number of eligibility requirements, including on the level of direct damages. Comparing the damage today to the 2007 floods, and following contact with the Commission, the Government’s assessment was that we had not met these conditions. The Regulation governing the EUSF sets the deadline for applications as ten weeks after the first damage caused by the disaster.