Motion for a resolution - B5-0807/2000Motion for a resolution
B5-0807/2000

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

19 October 2000

further to the Commission statement
pursuant to Rule 37(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Francesco Fiori, Antonio Tajani, Renato Brunetta, Raffaele Costa, Marcello Dell'Utri, Carlo Fatuzzo, Jas Gawronski, Giorgio Lisi, Mario Mantovani, Mario Walter Mauro, Guido Podestà, Amalia Sartori, Pier Ferdinando Casini, Giuseppe Nisticò, Generoso Andria, Luigi Cesaro, Enrico Ferri, Giuseppe Gargani, Raffaele Lombardo, Francesco Musotto, Umberto Scapagnini, Vittorio Sgarbi, Guido Viceconte, Stefano Zappalà and Michl Ebner
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the floods in northern Italy

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B5-0807/2000

Procedure : 2000/2623(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B5-0807/2000
Texts tabled :
B5-0807/2000
Debates :
Votes :
Texts adopted :

B5‑0807/2000

European Parliament resolution on the floods in northern Italy

The European Parliament,

A.  whereas unusual weather conditions and exceptionally severe flooding between Saturday 14 October and Tuesday 17 October hit various regions of Italy, in particular Piedmont, the Val d'Aosta, Liguria and Lombardy, causing 24 deaths, the disappearance of about ten people and the evacuation of thousands,

B.  whereas the torrential rain resulted in many rivers and lakes bursting their banks, high water levels, flooding, damage to agriculture and stock-breeding, landslips and landslides, blocked roads and railway lines, derailments, power cuts, breakdowns in the water supply and communications, the evacuation of hundreds of families and damage to housing and businesses,

C.  whereas in the worst hit regions, Piedmont and the Val d'Aosta, a state of emergency was declared and subsequently extended to Lombardy and Emilia Romagna; whereas the scale of the disaster requires assistance from the rest of Europe and financial resources to restore the devastated areas and ensure that living conditions return to normal,

D.  whereas because of current climatic changes natural disasters on this scale are becoming increasingly frequent and are likely to happen again; whereas the recent natural disaster which hit the Ionian coast of Calabria on 10 September 2000 causing devastation and many deaths on the 'Le Giare' campsite in Soverato, as a result of the mountain torrent Beltrame bursting its banks, was not seen as a warning,

E.  whereas because of hailstorms in the province of Trento (the Val di Non, the Val d'Adige and the upper and lower Valsugana) during the period 16-20 September 2000, the fruit harvest has been jeopardised and enormous damage caused;

F.  whereas in Italy, as in other countries, a land conservation policy needs to be drawn up and implemented in order to prevent further natural disasters, especially in regions where the terrain and river systems are in a precarious situation,

1.  Expresses its deep sympathy and support for the relatives of those who lost their lives, those made homeless and the communities otherwise affected;

2.  Calls on the Commission to launch cooperation with the Italian authorities to repair infrastructure and restore the industrial activities affected by the disaster and to collect together emergency funds to assist the victims, by combining the financial resources made available by national and local authorities with those provided under the policy of economic and social cohesion and the common agricultural policy;

3.  Calls on the Commission to take all appropriate measures to ensure that those affected are rapidly informed about the assistance available to them from European funds and that the aid is granted without delay;

4.  Calls on the competent Italian authorities to take immediately all necessary steps to draw up an up-to-date map of the areas at risk all over Italy and to implement the necessary legislative and administrative measures to ensure constant monitoring;

5.  Calls on the regions affected and the others to give priority to projects to safeguard and restore the land, with the aim of preventing serious deterioration in the terrain and river systems, reallocating structural funding for this purpose;

6.  Calls for the drafting of Community instruments coordinating the various civil protection systems at European level, in order to make them more readily available and useable in the event of natural disasters;

7.  Considers that in Italy, as in other EU countries, environmental and conservation policy must become a priority in government action and that steps must be taken to devise and execute compulsory projects for improving land use;

8.  Considers, furthermore, that an effective policy to protect the soil and prevent damage being caused by hydrogeological problems in all the regions at risk is closely bound up with ongoing maintenance of the various river basins, to be carried out by professionals who are already qualified or can be trained, thereby helping to alleviate substantially the festering problem of unemployment and poverty;

9.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of the Member States, the government and parliament of the Republic of Italy and the leaders of all the Italian regions.