MEPs have approved emergency EU funding to help four southern European countries recover from destructive storms and flooding earlier this year, with Portugal receiving the largest allocation.

The European Parliament approved €489.15 million in financial assistance for Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta on Wednesday, 21 October, following severe storms and flooding that damaged infrastructure and disrupted communities across southern Europe during the opening months of 2026.

The allocation from the European Union Solidarity Fund was approved by 651 votes to 17, with three abstentions. Portugal will receive the largest share, approximately €261.5 million, followed by Spain with €149.1 million, Italy with €74.9 million and Malta with €3.7 million.

The funding is intended to support recovery operations and help national authorities meet the costs of restoring essential public infrastructure and services damaged by the disasters.

Portugal receives largest allocation

Portugal’s €261.5 million allocation follows flooding and storms that affected the country during January and February.

The Portuguese authorities applied for assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund after assessing the extent of the damage and the associated costs of emergency operations and infrastructure recovery.

The funds will contribute to eligible public expenditure arising from the disasters, potentially including the restoration of transport links, damaged public facilities and other essential infrastructure.

Portugal has already received approximately €65.37 million in advance funding, according to the figures accompanying the parliamentary decision.

Spain will receive €149.1 million following destructive weather during the same period, including severe flooding in February.

The Spanish government had also requested European assistance to cover part of the expenditure associated with recovery operations.

Approximately €37.26 million of Spain’s allocation has already been paid in advance.

The two countries together account for the substantial majority of the assistance approved on Wednesday, reflecting the scale of their eligible recovery costs.

Storm Harry damages Italy and Malta

Italy and Malta will receive assistance following Storm Harry, which struck parts of the central Mediterranean in January 2026.

Italy’s allocation amounts to €74.9 million, while Malta will receive €3.7 million.

The storm caused significant disruption in affected Mediterranean areas, with heavy rainfall, strong winds and damaging sea conditions placing pressure on local infrastructure.

Italian authorities sought European support for recovery operations in the affected territories, while Malta submitted its own request following the damage sustained during the storm.

The Maltese allocation includes approximately €931,000 already made available through an advance payment.

The final assistance amounts were proposed by the European Commission after examining the applications submitted by the four governments.

The Commission’s September proposal to mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund set out the amount of assistance required for each country.

The total proposed mobilisation was €489,148,220.

How the EU Solidarity Fund works

The European Union established the Solidarity Fund in 2002 to assist member states and certain countries participating in the EU accession process following major natural disasters.

The mechanism provides financial support for public emergency and recovery expenditure rather than operating as a general insurance scheme for individuals or businesses.

Eligible expenditure can include emergency accommodation, restoring essential infrastructure, securing protective infrastructure, cleaning disaster-affected areas and protecting cultural heritage.

National authorities submit applications to the Commission, which evaluates them against the relevant eligibility requirements and financial thresholds.

Assistance depends on the assessed disaster damage and applicable regulatory criteria, rather than simply reimbursing every euro of economic loss.

The fund is financed through EU budgetary arrangements and is mobilised following the required institutional approvals.

Payments are made to the countries concerned, which remain responsible for ensuring that assistance is used in accordance with EU financial rules.

The Solidarity Fund can therefore help governments manage exceptional recovery costs, but it does not replace national budgets, private insurance or other financial arrangements.

Rising pressure on European disaster funding

The latest allocation comes against a background of increasingly frequent demands on European disaster-response mechanisms.

Southern European countries have experienced damaging floods, storms, heatwaves and wildfires in recent years, leading to repeated requests for assistance.

Recovery expenditure extends beyond immediate emergency operations. Damaged roads, bridges, coastal defences, water systems and public buildings can require prolonged reconstruction.

These costs can place considerable pressure on local authorities, particularly where a disaster affects tourism, transport or economic activity.

The EU faces the additional challenge of maintaining sufficient funds to respond to major disasters affecting several countries within a relatively short period.

Extreme weather events can also expose weaknesses in existing infrastructure, prompting governments to consider whether reconstruction should incorporate additional protection against future disasters.

However, such investments must be assessed against the eligible spending categories of the Solidarity Fund and the availability of other EU financing programmes.

Parliamentary approval and implementation

Wednesday’s vote represents parliamentary approval of the mobilisation proposed by the European Commission.

The decision concerns disasters that occurred earlier in 2026 and does not constitute a new emergency response operation.

The funds will support eligible recovery measures carried out by the national authorities in the four countries.

The payments already made to Portugal, Spain and Malta will be taken into account when the remaining assistance is disbursed.

EU authorities will retain responsibility for monitoring compliance with the relevant financial and reporting requirements.

The substantial parliamentary majority indicates broad support for assistance to the affected countries, although future disaster-funding arrangements will continue to depend on the resources available in the European budget.

For the four governments, the immediate task is to use the approved assistance to meet eligible recovery costs and restore damaged public infrastructure following the storms earlier this year.

Dave Masters watched as his father’s house careened into a telephone pole and split in two, after Hurricane Frances lifted it from its foundation in 2004. Hayward County, in Western North Carolina, bought the house and declared the patch near the town of Clyde “permanent open space under a federally funded program to reduce the risk of future loss of life and property damage.” Not all homes were treated equally, though, in the aftermath of distaster. Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Helene, along with Tropical Storm Fred, all brought heavy rains and flooding to the nearby Hyder Mountain Road mobile home park. They’re “part the result of a gap in disaster policy that allows mobile home residents to be put in harm’s way again and again.” For The Assembly, in a piece produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, Ren Larson explains why.

The federal government’s programs to buy out disaster-prone buildings are “the cornerstone of the Nation’s system for emergency management,” according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the program was developed with traditional homeowners in mind, and mobile homes, the country’s largest source of affordable housing, are often left out. Trailers, even when they become immovable and lifelong homes, aren’t typically considered real estate but instead personal property, like motorcycles and boats.

That still leaves people living on flood-prone land. For the state to actually buy that land, mobile home park owners have to take the buyout, and FEMA’s program offers little incentive for them to do so: They can’t collect from the government for lost rent or for the value of the mobile homes on top of the land. 

Some park owners say the payouts are not high enough to allow them to relocate; others aren’t even aware of the buyout program. So park owners regularly allow new trailers to move into the vacant spots. Art and Lynne Heinmiller, who own the Hyder Mountain Road mobile home park, did not respond to questions — which were emailed, texted and mailed via certified letter — about allowing trailers and campers to move back to where they’d washed away