Parliament's Budgets Committee approved EU Solidarity Fund aid totalling to repair earthquake and flood damage in Spain and Italy. The two aid requests, totalling €38 million, will be met out of unspent funds for rural development programmes.

In order to repair earthquake and flood damage in Spain and Italy, the Parliament's Budgets Committee approved a EU Solidarity Fund aid of €38 million. The aid and the amending budget needed to cover the payments will need still approval by Parliament as a whole and the Council of Ministers.

Spain requested €21.1 million from the EU Solidarity Fund in order to repair damage caused by the earthquakes Lorca (Murcia region) in May 2011. The two consecutive earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 resulted in nine people dying, around 300 injured, and a further 10,000 evacuated. In addition, the disaster also caused widespread damage to residential, public and business areas, as well as cultural heritage sites, the road network, and basic infrastructure. The total direct cost of the damage caused by the earthquakes is an estimated €842.8 million.

With regard to Italy, heavy rain in late October and early November 2010 caused severe flooding in the Veneto region, requested €16.9 million from the EU Solidarity Fund. The effects of the rain were aggravated by a warm Mediterranean "Sirocco" wind that melted the snow in the nearby mountains, causing significant damages to road and infrastructure networks, agriculture, businesses, and homes. The direct cost of the damage done by the flooding is estimated at €3.7 billion.