Mamoudzou: The Commission approved EUR 113 million from the EU Solidarity Fund for France and Slovakia on 5 November 2026, with the largest share going to Mayotte after Cyclone Chido. The Brussels Times reported the decision, citing a Commission release issued on Thursday. The money will pay for emergency response and recovery after disasters in 2024 and 2025.
Mayotte receives EUR 89.6 million for Cyclone Chido, which struck in December 2024, destroyed homes, disrupted water and electricity supplies and killed at least 39 people. That sum includes EUR 24 million already paid in advance in May 2025. La Reunion gets EUR 21.2 million for Cyclone Garance in February 2025, which damaged roads, hit agriculture and tourism and killed at least five people, including EUR 5.3 million advanced in August 2025.
Slovakia receives EUR 2.1 million for the floods of September 2024. The Danube and Morava rivers overflowed, and breached levees damaged transport links, with Bratislava and nearby regions hit hardest. The three awards add up to EUR 112.9 million, which rounds to the EUR 113 million headline figure.
The advances change what remains to be paid from the EU Solidarity Fund. Our calculation from the published figures suggests that about EUR 65.6 million is still due for Mayotte and EUR 15.9 million for La Reunion, while Slovakia’s EUR 2.1 million appears to be paid in full once approved. That would leave roughly EUR 83.6 million outstanding, though the Commission release as reported does not confirm that breakdown.
Commission approval of EU Solidarity Fund aid is not the last step. Payments follow once the European Parliament and the Council of the EU approve the Commission’s proposals. Neither institution has announced when it will take up the two files, so recipients cannot yet predict when the balance will arrive. Mayotte and La Reunion have waited since the cyclones for the bulk of the funding.
The EU Solidarity Fund exists to help governments cope with major natural disasters that exceed their own budgets. Set up in 2002, it has provided more than EUR 11 billion for 150 disasters across 25 member states, the United Kingdom and six accession countries. Eligible spending covers repairing damaged infrastructure, temporary accommodation, clean-up operations and restoring natural areas, but not compensation for private losses.
The timing raises a fair question about speed. Chido hit nearly two years ago, and the Slovak floods date from September 2024. Advances have softened the delay in France, yet the gap between a disaster and the final payment shows how slowly the EU Solidarity Fund works compared with local needs. Faster payments would matter most for outermost regions such as Mayotte, where reconstruction competes with everyday public service costs.
Readers should watch for three things. Parliament and the Council must schedule their approvals, the Commission must release the balances, and French and Slovak authorities must report how they spend the money. Those steps will decide whether the EU Solidarity Fund delivers lasting recovery in Mayotte, La Reunion and Slovakia, or only a late cheque.
