Solidarity Fund releases 489 million euros to four countries hit by storms

The European Parliament and the Council have mobilised the European Union Solidarity Fund with EUR 489 148 220 in commitment and payment appropriations to help Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta recover from the storms of January and February 2026. The decision was adopted in Strasbourg on 21 October 2026 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5 November 2026 as Decision (EU) 2026/2494. The aid is charged to the Union’s general budget for the 2026 financial year and applies retroactively from 21 October 2026.

The instrument is the fund created by Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002, whose stated purpose is to let the Union respond “in a rapid, efficient and flexible manner” to emergencies and show solidarity with populations of regions struck by major or regional natural disasters. The mobilisation is capped by Article 9 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, as amended by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/765, and is framed by point 10 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 on budgetary discipline. The text was adopted under Article 4(3) of the 2002 regulation, on a proposal from the European Commission.

How the money is divided

Article 1 of the decision sets four separate envelopes, all of them for natural disasters:

• Portugal: EUR 261 483 810, following the storms of January and February 2026 — the largest share, more than half of the total.
• Spain: EUR 149 055 370, for the same storms of January and February 2026.
• Italy: EUR 74 884 983, following storm Harry in January 2026.
• Malta: EUR 3 724 057, also following storm Harry in January 2026 — the smallest allocation.

Two events and four separate applications

The legal text distinguishes two meteorological episodes. Storm Harry, in January 2026, is the event cited for the two island and peninsular Mediterranean states, Malta and Italy. For Portugal and Spain, the decision refers more broadly to the storms of January and February 2026, without naming a single system.

Each state filed its own request to mobilise the fund in April 2026, within weeks of each other:

• Malta and Italy both submitted their applications on 10 April 2026.
• Portugal filed on 13 April 2026.
• Spain filed on 17 April 2026.

According to the recitals, the Commission considered that all four applications met the conditions for a financial contribution laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002. Only at that point did the two arms of the legislature conclude that the fund “should therefore be mobilised” in favour of the four member states.

Urgency and retroactive effect

Article 2 of the decision addresses timing. The text entered into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal, 5 November 2026, but applies from 21 October 2026 — the date of its adoption, three days after the decision was signed. The recitals justify the arrangement on the ground that Union assistance must reach the affected states “as rapidly as possible” and that any delay in mobilising the fund had to be avoided.

The decision is signed for the European Parliament by its President, R. METSOLA, and for the Council by its President, T. DOOLEY. It is published as document 2026/2494 of the L series of the Official Journal, with the European Legislation Identifier http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2026/2494/oj and CELEX number 32026D2494.

The decision is a reminder that disaster relief in the Union runs on a double calendar: member states apply within weeks, but the money becomes legally available only once Parliament and Council sign off a dedicated act, and the budget line is fixed for a single financial year. For regions and economic sectors still repairing infrastructure and productive capacity after storm Harry and the January-February storms, the four envelopes are the concrete form that European solidarity takes in 2026 — and an exceptional instrument that sits outside the ordinary spending programmes of the multiannual framework.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, No 2026/2494, 5 November 2026, p. 1-2 (official reference: 32026D2494).