Madeira and Pedrógão Grande may be able to be reconstructed with the aid of EU
The European Council approved an extra aid to reconstruct areas which were affected by natural disasters. Madeira qualifies for the aid because of the 2016 fires; Pedrógão Grande may also benefit.
The European Union Council approved this Monday an increase in the co-financing of rebuilding projects for regions affected by natural disasters. According to the new rulings, the Madeira fires, which devastated the region in 2016, qualify for this extra support. Regions affected by the Pedrõgão Grande fire may also benefit from this extra aid to rebuilding, as long as the incident is considered a natural disaster, as ECO confirmed near the European Union.
In the press release published this Monday, it is stated: “To help rebuilding regions affected by natural disasters, the European Union will support 95% of the costs; this almost doubles the financial contributions of some regions, currently at 50%”.
As the source from the European Union told ECO, this ruling will concern natural disasters which happened from January 1st, 2014, onward. As soon as the ruling is enforced (which should probably happen in July), the Madeira fires from last Summer are, then, included.
As for the Pedrógão Grande Tragedy, this additional support is not guaranteed, since it is all up to whether or not it is considered a natural disaster: the chief of Criminal Police stated that the fire was caused by a dry lightning, however, the president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters stated the fire started two hours before the thunderstorm. The Portuguese Public Prosecutor will open a criminal investigation to search the causes of the accident.
