EU aid for Spain and France to help with recent natural disasters

On Thursday, plenary supported a proposal to mobilise EU funds to help Spain and France following devastating floods and cyclones.

With 622 votes to 10 and 3 abstentions, MEPs backed the proposed release of just over €1 billion for Spain and France, following the destructive floods in the Valencia region in October 2024 and the cyclones that struck Mayotte and La Réunion in December 2024 and February 2025.

The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) will provide the following support:

€946,153,691 for Spain for the October 2024 floods;

€89,628,050 for France (Mayotte) for Cyclone Chido in December 2024;

€21,236,336 for France (Réunion) for Cyclone Garance in February 2025.

The EU funds will go towards clean-up operations and the restoration of energy, water, wastewater, telecoms, transport, health and education infrastructure in Spain. In Mayotte and Réunion, the EU support will help with the restoration of energy, water, wastewater, telecommunications, health, and education infrastructure.

Background

The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) is the EU’s main post-disaster relief instrument. Since its launch in 2002, it has provided over €9.6 billion in response to 136 major crises (116 natural disasters and 20 health emergencies) across 24 EU countries, the UK and four candidate countries.