Strasbourg, 06/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Monday, MEPs called for a reinforcement of civil protection mechanisms to avoid loss of human life and large scale material damage during natural disasters like the ones that have hit various EU countries recently (floods, drought and forest fires) and the United States (Hurricane Katrina).
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas described the serious drought in Spain and Portugal, the fires that have destroyed nearly 180,000 hectares of forest in Portugal, and the floods and mudslides in central and Eastern Europe. He said the Community Civil Protection Mechanism, activated after the floods in Romania and Bulgaria and during the forest fires in Portugal, had become an indispensable instrument for coordinating European assistance. Within less than 24 hours after Portugal requested assistance, the Mechanism managed to organise a fleet of fire-fighting aircraft and helicopters from France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands to support the Portuguese firefighters. With this support, explained Dimas, it was possible to contain the fires within days. The said the Mechanism also worked to assist Bulgaria and Romania, the two countries most affected by the floods. Dimas called, however, for improvements in the Community Civil Protection Mechanism by facilitating transport of assistance and hiring additional firefighting aircraft from outside the EU, for example, but EU funding would be required for this. 'We should not wait for another disaster before strengthening our system,' said Dimas.
Stavros Dimas listed various common measures in the field of prevention, protection and restoration - under the Commissions' Rural Development Programme, there is EUR 149 mil form the EAGGF available for Portugal for 2000-2006 and EUR 820 mil in Spain; the Forest Focus Regulation is the most recent instrument, with EUR 65 million for 2003-2006, including EUR 9 million for prevention; the EU Solidarity Fund has been requested to mobilise aid for Romania and Bulgaria.
We must not sit back and give in to fatalism with regard to these disasters which are repeated year on year, but must try to understand what causes them, said Gerardo Galeote Quecedo (EPP-ED, Spain) during the debate. On behalf of the EPP-ED, he suggested setting up a European Parliament temporary committee to look at how to improve disaster management in future. Spanish Socialist Rosa Migueles Ramos suggested setting up a Drought Observatory in Europe. Spanish Socialist Paulo Casaca, who comes from a country hard hit by the recent forest fires, stressed the very scale of the disasters. We can't shirt round the problem any longer but must implement a genuine policy for our forests, to protect them better, he argued. Solidarity alone will not suffice, warned Vittorio Prodi (ALDE, Italy), seeing the extreme catastrophes of this summer as one dimension of climate change - he said the EU had to prevent disasters, ensure there was enough secure, clean water, check geological safety and defend natural resources. Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes said the disasters were partly caused by man. Along with several of his colleagues, he explained that with regard to Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, experts had been warning for a long time about the dangers of global warming. Pedro Guerrerio (GUE/NGL, Portugal) said the EU had an important role to play, calling for the EU Solidarity Fund to be used and, over and above immediate aid measures, for a genuinely ecological policy to be introduced. I come from a region hit by the floods, Voralberg, but what's happening in Portugal affects me just as badly, said Austrian non-aligned MEP Hans-Peter Martin. In my region, regretted Austrian Social Democrat Herbert Bosch, there are people who have lost everything three years in a row and have to start from scratch. Let us use our research programme to better combat disasters that cover more than one country, he suggested. Bavaria has also been hit by the summer floods, and CSU MEP Markus Ferber called for relevant and fast support from the EU Solidarity Fund. Hungarian EPP-ED MEP Laszlo Surjan said a small wine-producing region in Hungary had been practically destroyed, and neighbouring Romania had been hit even more severely. He welcomed the wave of solidarity but regretted aid was often too slow. Janusz Wojciechowski (EPP-ED, Poland) called for a calm debate in the next few months on the general catastrophe prevention system and aid in the event of disasters, to make it more effective and workable. The Commission should unveil proposals in this connection, he argued. launch a general debate on the system of disaster prevention and aid in case of disaster, to make it more efficient and "adaptable": the Commission must put some proposals forward, he said. Oldrich Vlasak (EPP-ED, Czech Republic) said that in his capacity as the Mayor of his town, he was in a position to note the scale of the catastrophe in his country: let us not forget the floods in Sweden and the Baltic States earlier this year, he said. In France, we have had both floods in the Alps and fires in Provence, said Françoise Grossetête (EPP-ED, France). The Commission's proposal on its forestry policy seems "a little toothless" to me, said Véronique Mathieu (EPP-ED), who feels that the forest "deserves better than to be a jump seat between the environment and agriculture": let us create a Forestry Agency, and "why shouldn't we dream, why not have a Directorate General for Forestry" (within the European Commission), she suggested.
Before the debate, British Conservative Nirj Deva proposed that Echo, the humanitarian office of the Commission, become involved in helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the United States.
In answer to questions put by MEPs, Commissioner Stavros Dimas stressed the importance of the aid offered "spontaneously" by many Member States to the stricken countries, but added that without genuine coordination, there was a risk of duplication of effort and wastage. On the subject of the United States, Mr Dimas pointed out that "we did not receive a request [for aid] until yesterday", but that the experts of the Commission had already been in touch with the American authorities for several days. We are on standby to provide any aid they should need, he added.