Fires in Sicily

20.6.2016

Question for written answer E-004961-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Curzio Maltese (GUE/NGL)

On 16 and 17 June 2016, around 500 fires caused by arson destroyed 5 600 hectares of coppices and Mediterranean scrub in Sicily. First estimates put the likely damage at around EUR 30 million.

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 661/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014, activating the Solidarity Fund is a possibility. In view of this, can the Commission give details of how it will help the local authorities to complete quickly and correctly the procedures to activate the Fund on the basis of Article 5 of said Regulation?

With reference to the precautionary principle ratified in Directive 2008/99/EC on protection of the environment through criminal law — transposed into Italian law four and a half years late through Law No 68/2015 — what steps will the Commission take to investigate whether this law was implemented correctly and whether there has been negligence by local authorities in its implementation?