Maria Badia i Cutchet (PSE). – (ES) Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to thank the Commissioner for her words of solidarity.

As has already been said, on 24 and 25 January, several countries in the south of the Union suffered the effects of a severe storm with winds reaching speeds of nearly 200 km per hour over many parts of the Iberian peninsula as well as some 30% of total annual rainfall falling in just a few hours.

The result of the storm was serious damage to property, services and public facilities, both in rural and urban communities, as well as widespread power cuts. The most serious consequence, however, was the loss of 11 lives across Spain as a result of falling masonry and accidents caused by the fierce gusts of wind.

One of the most tragic events was the death of four children, aged between nine and 12, in Sant Boi de Llobregat in Catalonia, when the wind destroyed a sports hall in which they were playing baseball.

Apart from lamenting the loss of so many irreplaceable human lives and expressing our solidarity with the families in their grief, the European Union must act, as it has on other occasions, by mobilising either the Solidarity Fund or another more appropriate fund, to repair the material damage caused by this natural disaster.

Twenty thousand hectares of forest have been affected in Catalonia, 75% of which is either seriously or very seriously damaged. Action is required in order to reduce the future risk of fire; clearly this task must be completed before the summer.

Furthermore, a lot of debris of all kinds has been deposited in rivers, streams and other watercourses. This may block water flow and there is a risk of local flooding.

In view of these and many other effects and aware of the fact that we do not yet have a final figure for the material damage, which, of course, Spain will provide through its request for assistance from the Fund, we think that the European Commission should help these regions return to normal. This would complement the immense public effort in the affected Member States and would give priority to repairing the serious damage with the objective of restoring living conditions and economic stability in these areas as soon as possible. The affected regions are facing a downturn in economic activity, degradation of the environment, loss of agricultural production, cessation of activities by many companies, a massive loss of trees and so on.

Given the characteristics and effects of the storm, I request that the Commission make these funds available as soon as possible. They are mainly intended for natural disasters with serious repercussions for life, the environment and the economy of a Member State or region of the Union. The objectives of the operations that would receive subsidies include the restoration of infrastructure to working order, the repair of power and water supply equipment and the clean-up of affected areas.

Commissioner, for these reasons I ask you to mobilise these funds as soon as possible once all the necessary information has been received.