The European Union supportes the economic recovery in italian regions affected by earthquakes in 2016 and 2017

The European Union has found a € 43,9 million to support italian regions affected by earthquakes in 2016 and 2017.

The european commissioner in charge of competition policy said:

The people and economy of Central Italy are still recovering from the dramatic effects of several earthquakes over the past years. The italian authorities want to support this recovery with a measure contributing to the economic recovery of these areas. We found this measure to be well targeted to support affected businesses and the people living in these regions

In 2016 and 2017, four major earthquakes hit central Italy, affecting around 600,000 people in an area of around 8,000 Km2. Today, the region is still being affected by abnormal seismic activity, leading to a progressive desertification of the affected areas. This is unlikely to be addressed by compensation measures alone.

The Italian aid scheme approved today aims at complementing such measures, to mitigate the economic and social damages in the areas which have been affected by a significant drop of GDP, a substantial loss of employment, a reduction of economic activity by more than 50% and a significant decline in companies’ turnover compared to pre-earthquakes levels. This concerns 140 municipalities in the Italian regions of Lazio, Umbria, Marche and Abruzzo

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