A European Commission
spokesperson said Thursday Italy can benefit from the EU
Solidarity Fund for last night's earthquake as well as the one
that struck its mountainous central regions last August 24. EU
officials will assess whether solidarity funds can be requested
twice for communities that have been struck twice, like the
village of Amatrice. Italy has yet to file a request for the
August 24 quake that claimed 298 lives, the spokesperson said.
Countries have up to 12 weeks after a natural disaster to assess
the damage and request EU solidarity funding, and Italy has been
hard at work to submit a detailed request for the maximum amount
of funding by a November 12 deadline. Damages must exceed 3.3
billion euros or 0.6% of a country's GDP for the maximum funding
to become available. The August 24 quake caused an estimated
five billion euros in damages as it razed entire villages to the
ground and left thousands homeless.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
