After a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the floods in Spain, MEPs debated this subject and ways of responding to natural disasters on Wednesday 13 November. “What we are witnessing in Europe is a sharp increase in devastating extreme weather events [...] What used to be statistically once in a lifetime events are now becoming a regular occurrence”, said Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management.
A constructive exchange on disaster preparedness gave way to a political debate on responsibility for managing this crisis. The EPP, PfE and ECR Groups pointed the finger at the Spanish Socialist government, in particular Teresa Ribera, the current Minister for Ecological Transition and European Commissioner-designate for the EU’s Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition (see EUROPE 13522/1).
MEP Esteban González Pons (EPP, Spanish) went so far as to ask Spain to propose a new European Commissioner (see other news).
On the other side, the S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left Groups deplored the “instrumentalisation” of the floods by their opponents. However, the President of the S&D Group, Iratxe Garcia Perez, went down the same road by laying the blame of flood management on the President of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazón (EPP).
The four groups also stressed the importance of tackling the causes of climate change in order to avoid similar natural disasters.
A number of elected representatives from all groups called for faster and more effective solidarity mechanisms at European level. “We need to increase the budgetary resources made available to deal with this type of disaster, which is constantly on the increase. It is also necessary to simplify access to European funds for reconstruction aid”, according to Georgiana Teodorescu (ECR, Romanian).
After listing the mechanisms set in motion by Spain and the EU in recent days (see EUROPE 13522/11), Janez Lenarčič mentioned other possibilities for helping Spain: “If the situation requires it, and if Spain so requests, we can also mobilise generators, shelters and other basic necessities from the EU’s strategic reserve. In addition to emergency aid, and with a view to the medium term, Spain can request aid for reconstruction via the European Solidarity Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Facility”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)