(ANSA) - STRASBOURG - Romania, Bulgaria and Italy will receive 66.5 million euros in total for compensation to cover part of the cost of emergency measures taken during the 2014 floods, after European Parliament approved a EU Commission proposal. The aid, covered by the European Solidarity Fund, was adopted by 667 votes to 31, with 11 abstentions.

The European Solidarity Fund aid will now help the three countries repair damage done to public and private infrastructure, private homes, businesses, agriculture, the environment, and cultural heritage by floods that hit Romania in the spring and summer, Bulgaria in the summer and Italy in the autumn of 2014.

The Council has already approved the aid, the bulk of which (56 million euros) goes to Italy, with Bulgaria receiving almost 2 million euros and Romania nearly 8.5 million euros. The funds will particularly help restore vital infrastructure and services, reimburse the cost of emergency and rescue operations, and cover some of the clean-up costs in the disaster-stricken regions. (ANSA)