Brussels, 27/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday morning, four French and Italian Canadairs were helping Greece to combat the devastating fires that have broken out there. Another three Canadairs are on their way and helicopters equipped for fire-fighting should reach the theatre of operations during the day. This is the biggest offer of assistance to a member state since the Community Mechanism for Civil Protection (MCP), coordinated by the European Commission, came into being in 2001. However, despite this show of European solidarity, with new member states also sending men and material to the areas devastated by the fires, the blaze had still not been brought under control on Monday at the time of going to press. This raises the question of the EU's ability to effectively face up to natural disasters.
On this point, a Commission spokeswoman admitted that the EU's capacity was insufficient and told the press that the services of the different Commission Directorates-General were “reflecting on permanent emergency intervention forces”. Barbara Helfferich said these services are studying 11 key modules for rapid deployment of men and material to fight fires. She said current discussion could lead to a Commission initiative by early autumn. We recall that the former European commissioner for regional policy, Michel Barnier, had during his term of office launched the idea of a “rapid reaction force”.
On Sunday, Commission President José Manuel Barroso expressed his sorrow at the number of victims and sent his condolences to the Greek authorities and to the families concerned. “I want to thank, personally, the member states and the European countries that have contributed fire-fighting aircraft to help extinguish the devastating fires and sincerely hope that the situation will soon be controlled and no other lives lost”, he said. Environment and Civil Protection Commissioner Stavros Dimas, of Greece, said “my heart goes out to all those who are suffering from the consequences of this disaster”. He also stressed the extent of the environmental damage done.
Five Canadairs - four French and one Italian - arrived on Sunday afternoon to help fight the fires devastating the southern regions of Greece, in particular the Peloponnese, but also in the region of Katyvia, near Athens.
Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden have also decided to send helicopters to Greece by Monday. Germany has sent three helicopters with a 5000 water litre capacity, the Netherlands has sent two Cougars, Finland three with a 600 to 800 litre capacity and Slovenia a 1000 litre capacity helicopter. Other member states like Austria and Sweden have provided fire fighting material and third countries like Israel, Russia and Cyprus has offered to help.
In a press release on 26 August Stavros Dimas stated, “As soon as the fires are extinguished, efforts to restore the habitats and rebuild the areas destroyed must be undertaken immediately." Barbara Helfferich indicated on Monday that no request for aid from the Solidarity Fund had be made by Athens yet. The spokesperson did not rule out Greece applying to the fund but said that use of this would only be possible after damage assessment. Asked about the economic impact of the fires on the Greek economy in relation to Greece's implementation of the growth and stability pact, another Commission spokesperson, Amelia Torres said that a gesture could be made in these circumstances.
With regard to the request from Albania to the Community Mechanism for Civil protection, which had also been affected by violent forest fires, Helfferich explained that the demand had been sent to member states but the latter had not yet responded, which would suggest that once the situation was under control in Greece, the EU would try and send planes.
Since the beginning of summer the MIC has managed a total of 13 requests from assistance from six countries. 2007 appears to hold the record in the number of forest fires since 1985, the year when records on the subject were first collected in Spain, Italy, France and Greece. Similar data has been collected since 2004 for the other member states (EUROPE 9483). (ol)