The European Parliament voted on Wednesday, 21 October, to mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund: €74.9 million for Italy after storm Harry in January 2026. The vote was 651 in favour, 17 against and three abstentions, on a €489 million package for four countries. This is a plenary vote, not a transfer already arrived in Sardinia, Sicily or Calabria.

Parliament’s press note says Malta and Italy asked for help after Harry, and Portugal and Spain after storms and flooding in January–February 2026. The split: Portugal €261.5 million (€65.37 million advance already received); Spain €149.1 million (€37.26 million advance); Italy €74.9 million, with no advance listed; Malta €3.7 million (€931,014 advance). Italy’s figure today is not the others’ advances.

The fund can pay for emergency and recovery work: energy, water, wastewater, telecoms, transport, health, education, clean-up, temporary shelter, rescue, preventive infrastructure and cultural heritage. That is a list of eligible uses, not a report that January’s works have been paid from this vote.

The fund sits in the EU budget’s Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve. Mobilisation has to be approved by both Parliament and the Council. Wednesday’s vote is the parliamentary half. It is not an executed payment and not an Italian national law.

EUnews records the same €74.9 million and the same 651-17-3, and names Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia as areas hit in January. Five Star MEPs Giuseppe Antoci and Pasquale Tridico called on the Italian government to put in its own funds. That is a political statement, not proof the European money has been wired.

The file’s rapporteur is Lucia Yar (Renew, Slovakia). Since 2002 the fund has provided more than €11 billion for 150 events. That is the instrument’s history, not today’s invoice. Until a Council decision and a published payment, the closed fact is the vote: €74.9 million for Italy inside the €489 million package.

Image: Sebastian Wallroth, European Parliament hemicycle, Strasbourg, 16 August 2023, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the 2023 chamber, not a photograph of the 21 October 2026 vote.

Sources consulted: EU Parliament approves 74.9 million in aid to Italy for cyclone Harry - ANSA; Parliament backs storm recovery aid for Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta - European Parliament.