Background information

Ιn September 2023, according to an announcement of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (EMY), a record amount of rainfall was recorded in Thessaly, Northern Evia, the Sporades, and eastern Central Greece due to the passage of two bad weather systems named Daniel and Elias. The first and more powerful weather system occurred at the beginning of the month (September 5-7), while the second occurred at the end of the same month (September 26-28). The heavy rains and thunderstorms, along with their prolonged duration in the aforementioned regions, led to severe flooding. The combination of extreme meteorological events with other factors had devastating consequences, and the flooded areas in Thessaly covered approximately 720,000 acres. To address the flooding, the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection activated the framework of state aid on 11 September 2023, to provide assistance to those affected by the floods in Thessaly and Central Greece. This was done in collaboration with the Ministries of Finance, Interior, Labor, Rural Development, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, and the Organization of Greek Agricultural Insurance.

Content of measure

The government measures activated on 21 July 2023 for the affected areas by the Flood in Greece include:

• Assistance for immediate needs, household damage, and basic repair works for affected homes, up to €6,600 per primary residence.
• Initial aid for housing repair, for buildings designated as dangerous or temporarily unfit for use, with amounts of €10,000 or €5,000, respectively.
• Housing support for individuals and legal entities, with an 80% state grant and a 20% interest-free loan to the owners of the affected buildings up to 150 sq.m. for building restoration (repair/reconstruction) after clearing with the initial aid.
• Rental or cohabitation subsidy ranging from €300 to €500 per month, granted for up to two years for homeowners and six months for renters.
• Extension of the Minimum Guaranteed Income (MGI) and Housing Allowance payments.
• Initial aid as a part of the grant for the affected businesses with amounts of €2,000 for moderate damage and €4,000 for extensive damage.
• State aid to affected businesses and entities, covering 70% of the estimated damage to the business's assets, including machinery, raw materials, goods, and damaged vehicles. The final grant is offset against the granted first aid.
• State aid for affected agricultural holdings, similar to that for businesses.
• Suspension of tax obligations.
• Suspension of compulsory execution actions for affected businesses and individuals who suffered home damage.
• Three-year exemption from ENFIA property tax for damaged properties.
• Adjustment and suspension of insurance contributions for businesses and individuals, up to six months.
• Temporal suspension of employment contracts and provision of a €534 allowance to employees of affected businesses for three months.
• Emergency funding for Local Authorities (ΟΤΑ).

Use of measure

On 18 September 2023, the Ministry of Climate Change granted an emergency funding of €18.75 million to the Local Authorities (ΟΤΑ) for immediate response and recovery efforts from natural disasters, as the initial support. Furthermore, on 6th October 2023, the Ministry of Interior allocated a total of €84,660,000 for the support of municipalities, Water Supply and Sewerage Companies (DEYA), and regions that were affected by the summer wildfires and the September floods to address the damages and infrastructure restoration. Additionally, by October 10, 2023, a cumulative amount of €49.1 million had been disbursed to 9,667 beneficiaries, including households and businesses, who were impacted by the floods in Thessaly and areas of Central Greece. The financial assistance aims to address their immediate basic needs, perform simple repair work, or replace housing. It also includes initial aid for businesses and housing assistance.

Also, until 22 November 2023, the Ministry of Labor had made three payments to employees whose employment contracts were suspended due to fires and floods. The beneficiaries received the special purpose compensation (€534 per month) as follows: On 10 November 2023, €1,540,608.00 was granted for special purpose compensation, covering a total of 4,528 payments to employees of businesses affected by fires for the months of July, August, and September 2023, as well as to beneficiaries of businesses affected by floods for September 2023. On 17 November 12023, €957,216.00 was granted for 2,153 payments to employees of businesses affected by fires and floods for the month of October 2023. On 22 November 2023, an additional €669,438.00 was provided to beneficiaries who were on suspension and had not received the relevant compensation with the first payments, in the regions of Thessaly and the South Aegean.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Applies to all businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies Local / regional government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

There is no any involvement of social partners

Views and reactions

There are no social partner's reactions to the measure.

Sources

• 11 September 2023: Πλημμύρες στη Θεσσαλία - Μέτρα στήριξης (arogi.gov.gr)
• 30 September 2023: Κλιματικο δελτιο Σεπτέμβριος 2023 (www.emy.gr)
• 06 October 2023: Πρόγραμμα φυσικών καταστροφών για τους ΟΤΑ Α΄ και Β΄ βαθμού (www.ypes.gr)
• 10 October 2023: Πλημμύρες σε Θεσσαλία και Στερεά Ελλάδα: 6η πληρωμή πρώτης αρωγή (www.naftemporiki.gr)
• 27 November 2023: Υπουργείο Εργασίας.Συμπληρωματική αποζημίωση για πυρόπληκτους και πλημμυροπαθείς (www.insurancedaily.gr)