MEPs call for flood cash payout

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/humber/7464495.stm

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The government is coming under pressure to pass on the full total of European aid to parts of the UK affected by flooding last summer.

The European Commission promised the UK about £110m from the EU's Solidarity Fund - cash set aside for member states to apply for after a natural disaster.

But a funding deal agreed by the government in 1984 means the payout to communities will actually be £31m.

Two Yorkshire and Humber MEPs, backed by EU colleagues, say it is unfair.

Richard Seeber, MEP for Austria, said his country shared around £70m with Bulgaria and Romania, and every penny was given to flood-hit communities.

If you get a sense that you are being offered something and then it's being taken away that doesn't do much for trust in government at any level Diana Wallis, MEP

Mr Seeber told the BBC the situation in the UK was "incredible".

He said: "I think government should give all the money and immediately, of course, to the affected region.

"This has to be distributed in the full amount and be distributed very quickly."

Floods Recovery Minister John Healey has admitted that the problem has resulted from the terms of a so-called "abatement mechanism" - what is commonly known as the rebate - which was agreed with the EU in 1984.

The rebate ensures money is paid back to the UK to take account of the fact that the country gives more to Europe than it receives.

Smaller rebate

But when the UK receives a large amount of money from the EU, such as from the Solidarity Fund, its rebate becomes smaller.

So the extra £79m from the EU is being put back into the government's general budget, to compensate for the smaller rebate in this financial year.

Diana Wallis, Lib Dem MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, said the region should have received the full £110m.

She said: "I think it's absolutely vital, both in terms of the help it gives to infrastructure in the region but also in the sense of solidarity, sense of caring.

"If you get a sense that you are being offered something and then it's being taken away that doesn't do much for trust in government at any level."

Labour Yorkshire and Humber MEP Richard Corbett said victims of flooding in his constituencies found it hard to understand why they were getting less money.

Mr Healey said the government had already paid out £88m to flood-hit areas, before the EU grant.

And he said more money would be available over the coming months.