Emilia Romagna, Giorgia Meloni: «Bonaccini commissioner? Find the money first.’ Von der Leyen: “The EU is with you”

The Council of Ministers, as far as we learn, has extended the state of emergency to some municipalities in the Marche and Tuscany affected by the flood.

“It is urgent to launch” the solidarity fund “but there are very important rules to respect: there will be an initial payment then an estimate of the damages to have a clearer idea of ​​the contribution from the EU, this will happen in the next three months, then we’ll see what we can do.’ This was stated by the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Bologna, after flying over the flooded areas. «The main source» of EU funding «will be the solidarity fund. We will be able to give you a clearer idea in the future» of the amount of resources that will be made available.

«On the subject of the commissioner, I am struck that this is the subject that is close to your heart while there are still people’s funerals. My main problem is not who spends the money but finding it». Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this in Bologna, after flying over the flooded areas with the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the governor of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini.

There is “a structured approach” to the emergency. said the president of the European Commission Ursula von Der Leyen at the press conference in Bologna together with the premier Giorgia Meloni. «It can be used – you observed in another passage – the cohesion fund. If we look at the Next Generation EU plan, there are 6 billion for prevention, there is a structural approach and all these and other resources we can draw on”.

“I am here to send a very clear message: Europe is with you”. This was stated by the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Bologna, after flying over the flooded areas with the premier Giorgia Meloni and the governor of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini.

«I think it was important that von der Leyen saw the extent of the problem and the multifaceted problems with his own eyes because we will need to pay special attention to this region, to the other funds, from the cohesion funds onwards, I am thinking of the agricultural theme» . Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this in Bologna, after flying over the flooded areas with the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the governor of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini.

«The support of the Union can be very important at this stage: in the next few weeks, once we have made an overall estimate of the damage caused by the flood, we will request the activation of the solidarity fund, which unfortunately Italy has already had to access on other occasions ». Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this in Bologna, after flying over the flooded areas with the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the governor of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini.

“Thanks to the president who wanted to come to Emilia to understand the situation that the region and the entire nation is facing”. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this in Bologna, after flying over the flooded areas with the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the governor of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini. «I was with her in the first few days in Japan: she immediately showed her solidarity. I also want to thank the other heads of state who have offered their availability”.

Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the European Commission, landed at Bologna airport. A few minutes later, the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Minister for European Affairs, Raffaele Fitto, also landed on a flight from Ciampino. To welcome them, the president of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, the prefect of Bologna, Attilio Visconti, and the head of civil protection, Fabrizio Curcio. The delegation immediately flew off for an aerial reconnaissance – in an Air Force helicopter – of the areas of Emilia-Romagna affected by floods, landslides and mudslides. Upon return, a press point will take place at Bologna airport.

“Unfortunately, the damage to the road network is enormous. An initial absolutely partial estimate, which we handed over to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, indicated the resources needed to cover the first urgent interventions at 620 million euros». So the Councilor for Infrastructure and Transport of Emilia Romagna, Andrea Corsini, from Cesena started a series of operational inspections in the areas most damaged by the flood and the landslides of these days to check the status of the road connections and of the viability, listen to the requests of the mayors and then prepare an intervention plan based on the priorities. “There are hundreds of damaged, interrupted, collapsed roads – he adds – and some still isolated areas. Punctual and urgent work is needed to put citizens and citizens in a position to get back to moving safely as soon as possible. As always, we will do our part and we are waiting for the Government, which we thank for having immediately approved a first decree, a new provision that allocates the necessary resources to the infrastructures of Emilia-Romagna”.

In the economic recommendations presented yesterday by the European Commission “it is clarified that the extraordinary expenses to deal with the flood, being ‘one off’ expenses, will not be counted by the European Commission in the country’s deficit”. This was confirmed by the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, speaking at the Trento Festival of the Economy, scheduled until Sunday. “These are difficult, terrible days for Emilia Romagna, we discussed them yesterday at the weekly meeting of the college of commissioners”, reported the commissioner, summarizing the EU’s support for the country in three points. On the European side “in addition to solidarity and the fact that (the president of the European Commission, ed) Ursula von der leyen will be in the afternoon with the president Meloni and the Emilian governor Stefano Bonaccini to make an inspection”, at the Italian request the “EU civil protection mechanism” and now the country “can apply for the Solidarity Fund for natural disasters which must be activated within twelve weeks with detailed applications”. The third element underlined by Gentiloni is the deduction from the deficit of expenses to deal with the flood.

The red alert of Arpae and Civil Protection remains active for Friday 26 May in the areas affected by the flood in Emilia-Romagna: the Bolognese plain, the coast and the Romagna plain. No rains are forecast for tomorrow, but the thunderstorms expected for today’s afternoon on the Apennine ridge could cause rapid increases in the levels of watercourses with the propagation and involvement of embanked stretches of the plain in the early hours of tomorrow morning, Friday 26 May . In the central-eastern mountainous and hilly areas of the region there are still saturation conditions of the soils favorable to the development of landslides.

«We have to consider all the water that is potentially infected in Romagna at the moment. So it must not have contact with any part of our body. This was stated by Matteo Bassetti, director of infectious diseases of San Matteo in Genoa, in Agorà on Rai 3, adding: «The recommendation is, in addition to following the health authorities, to avoid touching stagnant water. I say this especially to children, to the elderly”. Furthermore, «in a context like that of Emilia Romagna, I would avoid thinking about 10 years. We need to carry out a blanket anti-tetanus vaccination campaign even for those who did it a year ago », explains Bassetti. As for the masks to wear against the risk of infection. Bassetti underlines that “whoever wants to can put them but of all the things to do I think other measures are more important, molds are not a problem for today but they will be for tomorrow if they continue to proliferate”.

For the recovery of flooded Romagna, the activation of the European Union Solidarity Fund is fundamental, which has already mobilized over 8.2 billion euros for interventions aimed at dealing with disasters in 24 Member States over the last twenty years. This is what emerges from an analysis by Coldiretti on the occasion of the visit of the president of the EU Commission Von der Leyen to the territories devastated by bad weather. The important measures for businesses and workers launched by the Government are a significant first step – underlines Coldiretti – to face the emergency in the Region where, following the flood, further efforts and resources will be needed, also with the contribution of the European Union. The Member State hit by a disaster can submit to the Commission – specifies Coldiretti – an application for assistance from the European Union Solidarity Fund (Fsue) within a maximum of twelve weeks from the date on which the first damages caused by the disaster occurred. The process of awarding a grant, followed by a budgetary procedure (approval by the Parliament and the Council), can take several months but Member States have the possibility to request the payment of an advance of up to 25% of the total amount of the financial contribution foreseen under the FSUE, with a limit of 100 million euro. For the last flood that took place in 2021 in Germany, a total of 613 million euros were allocated – recalls Coldiretti -. (Continued) ZUL/VOR ECONOMY BAD WEATHER, COLDIRETTI: VON DER LEYEN SUPPORTS ROMAGNA REBIRTH-3- Milan, May 25 (GEA) – «The flood – recalls Coldiretti – devastated farms and livestock in one of the most agricultural areas of the country with a gross salable production of Romagna equal to approximately 1.5 billion euros a year which multiplies along the supply chain thanks to an avant-garde private and cooperative induced in food processing and distribution which has been severely compromised». «To the damages on agricultural production – highlights Coldiretti – are added those to structures such as orchard plants, greenhouses, rural buildings, stables, machinery and equipment lost without counting the need to reclaim the land and restore the viability in the rural areas with landslides on farms and along roads”.

First funerals in Romagna where 15 people lost their lives last week: in Russi (Ravenna) this morning the funeral of Delio Foschini and Dorotea “Tea” Dalle Fabbriche in the church of San Pancrazio. The spouses, 71 and 73 years old, are presumably electrocuted while trying to move a freezer from the ground floor of their home invaded by water.