Italy can ask for EU funds for quake

(ANSA) - Brussels, October 27 - 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.