Motion for a resolution - B6-0323/2007Motion for a resolution
B6-0323/2007
European Parliament

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

29.8.2007

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Gerardo Galeote Quecedo, Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Nikolaos Vakalis, Antonios Trakatellis, Konstantinos Hatzidakis, Rodi Kratsa, Georgios Papastamkos, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Manolis Mavrommatis, Ioannis Gklavakis, Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos, Antonios Samaras, Panayiotis Demetriou, Ioannis Kasoulides, Giuseppe Castiglione, Rolf Berend, Luis de Grandes, Margie Sudre, Fernando Fernandez Martin, Sergio Marques, Laszlo Surjan, Iles Braghetto, Maria Petre, Tomas Zatloukal, Jean-Pierre Audy, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Francesco Musotto, Monica Maria Iacob Ridzi, Yiannakis Matsis, Antonio Tajani and Agnes Schierhuber
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on this summer's natural disasters

Procedure : 2007/2605(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B6-0323/2007
Texts tabled :
B6-0323/2007
Debates :
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Texts adopted :

B6‑0323/2007

European Parliament resolution on this summer's natural disasters

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Articles 2, 6 and 174 of the EC Treaty,

–  having regard to its resolution of 7 September 2006 on forest fires and floods in Europe, its resolution of 5 September 2002 on floods in Europe[1], its resolution of 14 April 2005 on the drought in Portugal[2], its resolution of 12 May 2005 on the drought in Spain[3], its resolution of 8 September 2005 on natural disasters (fires and floods) in Europe[4] and its resolutions of 18 May 2006 on natural disasters (forest fires, droughts and floods) - agricultural aspects[5], regional development aspects[6] and environmental aspects[7],

–  having regard to the two joint public hearings organised by its Committee on Regional Development, its Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on a 'European Strategy for Natural Disasters' (20 March 2006) and on the 'European civil protection force: Europe aid' (5 October 2006),

–  having regard to the Council decision of 23 October 2001 establishing a Community mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions (2001/792/EC, Euratom)[8], to the forthcoming adoption of the recast Council decision establishing a Community civil protection mechanism and to Parliament’s position of 24 October 2006[9],

–  having regard to the Commission proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a European Union Solidarity Fund (COM(2005)0108), and to Parliament's position of 18 May 2006[10],

–  having regard to its legislative resolution of 25 April 2007 on the Council common position with a view to the adoption of a directive on the assessment and management of floods[11],

–  having regard to the Council Decision of 5 March 2007 establishing a Civil Protection Financial Instrument (2007/162/EC, Euratom)[12],

–  having regard to the conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting of 12 and 13 June 2007 on enhancing the coordination capacity of the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) within the Community civil protection mechanism,

–  having regard to Michel Barnier’s report of 9 May 2006, entitled 'For a European civil protection force: Europe aid',

–  having regard to point 12 of the Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 15 and 16 June 2006 concerning the Union's responsiveness to emergencies, crises and disasters,

–  having regard to the Commission communication on droughts[13],

–  having regard to the unanimously adopted resolution of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly on civil protection and prevention of natural and ecological disasters in the Euro-Mediterranean region,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the summer of 2007 was marked by particularly dramatic forest and other wild fires across Southern Europe, resulting in many cases in the loss of the lives of European citizens, including dedicated fire-fighting personnel, and in considerable material and environmental damage; whereas the area burned in July alone was as large as the total area burned during the whole of last year; whereas in the month of August, Greece has experienced a severe national tragedy as a result of one of the most lethal fire disasters to have occurred anywhere in the world since 1871,

B.  whereas the total area of vegetation and woodland affected by the fires in Europe this summer is more than 500 000 hectares, and the most severely affected countries are Greece, Italy (and in particular Sicily), Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, FYROM, Spain (and in particular the Canary Islands), Ukraine and Albania,

C.   whereas the recent devastating forest fires in Greece, which ravaged in particular large parts of the Peloponnese, Evia Island and areas around Athens, alone resulted in the loss of more than 60 human lives, injuries to many people, the burning of thousands of hectares of forest and brush-land, the loss of animals, the destruction of many houses and properties and the obliteration of villages; whereas, during this crisis, 170 separate forest fires were reported in various places in Greece on the same day,

D.   whereas, at the same time, Europe experienced severe floods, which affected many areas in the north, and in particular the UK, causing damage to homes, schools, infrastructure and agriculture, leading to the displacement of large numbers of people and significant losses for businesses and the tourism industry, while extreme droughts occurred in eastern Europe, particularly in Romania,

E.  whereas, with increasingly hot and dry summer seasons in Southern Europe, forest fires and other wild fires are a recurrent phenomenon, but still vary dramatically from year to year in intensity and in geographical location; whereas the trend of these disastrous events is also influenced by climate change and is linked to the increasing occurrence of heatwaves and droughts, as noted in the Commission communication on droughts,

F.   whereas the frequency, severity, complexity and impact of natural and man-made disasters across Europe has increased rapidly over the recent years,

G.   whereas the increasing occurrence of heatwaves has a disproportionate effect on vulnerable sections of the population, and especially the elderly, too often resulting in casualties and loss of life,

H.  whereas the Community Civil Protection Mechanism was activated nine times for the same kind of emergency in a time period of five weeks, and seven of the emergencies were simultaneous; whereas Member States' assistance was not sufficient to ensure a rapid and adequate civil protection response to all of the emergencies,

I.   whereas the Chairman of Parliament's Committee on Regional Development and the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy have, in the past 12 months, written to the Presidencies of the Council to urge them to reach a decision on the new Solidarity Fund regulation, bearing in mind that Parliament adopted its position back in May 2006,

1.  Expresses its strong solidarity with the relatives of those who lost their lives and with residents in the affected areas, and pays homage to the fire-fighters, professionals and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to extinguish fires, rescue people and limit damage from this summer’s natural disasters;

2.  Asks the Commission to mobilise the current EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) in the most flexible manner possible and without delay; considers, in this connection, that the necessary resources need to be made available immediately for the purpose of relieving the suffering and satisfying the needs of victims of natural disasters - fires and floods - and their immediate families by means of the EUSF and other Community Instruments;

3.   Deplores the fact that so many of these forest fires appear to have been started by acts of arson, and is particularly concerned that criminal acts of arson are increasingly to blame for forest fires in Europe; calls on the Member States to pursue without delay tough measures to prevent such wanton acts of destruction and bring the arsonists to justice, in order to discourage any further deliberate criminal behaviour;

4.  Acknowledges the solidarity of the European Union, its Member States and other countries in assisting the affected regions during forest fire emergencies with the supply of aircraft, fire-fighting equipment and expertise, as well as the help provided to the relevant authorities and rescue services; considers that the dimensions of these phenomena and their consequences go beyond the regional and national scale and capacities and urgently call for an effective European commitment; notes that this was especially demonstrated in the case of Greece where, despite the Greek Government doing everything within its means and the mobilisation of all existing national and community mechanisms, it was impossible to control the disaster;

5.  Recognises the contribution of the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) in supporting and facilitating the mobilisation and coordination of civil protection assistance during emergencies; notes, however, that Member States' resources to combat forest fires, especially by aerial means, are limited and it is not always possible for Member States to offer support when the resources are needed nationally; notes, as a result, that some Member States received less assistance than others and had to rely on bilateral agreements with non-EU states for assistance; regrets, therefore, that in some cases the EU as a whole failed to display sufficient solidarity;

6.   Strongly urges the Council to reach a decision, without further delay, on the new EU Solidarity Fund regulation, bearing in mind that Parliament adopted its position in May 2006; considers the Council's delay in this respect to be unacceptable; believes that the new regulation, which - among other measures - lowers the thresholds for the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund, will be able to address damage in a more effective, flexible and timely manner; calls on the Portuguese Presidency-in-Office, as well as the EU Ministers for Finance, Environment, Agriculture and Regional Development, to take swift and firm action immediately; suggests to this end that an extraordinary joint Council meeting of these responsible EU Ministers be called, at which Parliament and Commission would be present as observers;

7.   Considers that the past years' and recent experience emphasises the need to strengthen the Community civil protection prevention preparedness and response capability in connection with forest and other wild fires, and strongly urges the Commission to take action towards this end;

8.  Welcomes the recent Council decision of 5 March 2007 establishing a Civil Protection Financial Instrument, and believes that the actions receiving financial assistance under this instrument should ensure the visible expression of European solidarity and provide further European added value to the effective management of natural disasters; is concerned, however, that the amount allocated to this new instrument will not be sufficient to carry out its ambitious tasks effectively;

9.  Invites the Commission to look into the possibility of having prearranged access to a complementary capacity geared to ensuring a rapid response to major emergencies, which may be available from other sources, including the commercial market; suggests that the cost of the stand-by force could be covered through the Civil Protection Financial Instrument;

10.  Requests the creation of a European force that could react immediately in emergencies, as proposed in the Barnier report, and regrets the lack of response and follow-up in this respect; welcomes, therefore, the recent joint call by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis for closer cooperation in this field, going beyond the traditional voluntary pooling of resources;

11.  Emphasises, in this context, the need to continue the development of a rapid reaction capability based on the civil protection modules of the Member States, as called for by the Brussels European Council of 16 and 17 June 2006; asks the Commission to draw up a concrete proposal to this end;

12.  Stresses that natural disasters, and in particular forest fires, have this year placed in considerable danger monuments and archaeological sites that are of major importance to the European cultural heritage; draws attention, in this connection, to the threat, albeit averted, to ancient Olympia and, in particular, its museum, as a World Heritage Site; asks that resources be made available should sites of European cultural heritage be damaged by the continuing forest fires;

13.  Invites the Commission to explore the potential for cooperation with the EU's neighbouring countries and other third countries in fighting disastrous fires, exchanging best practices and/or capacities during the hazardous summer months in order to be better prepared for the forest fires season in 2008;

14.  Emphasises the need for stronger measures aimed at the prevention of natural disasters; in this connection, eagerly awaits the publication in 2008 of two Commission studies aimed at the creation of an integrated strategy for the prevention of natural disasters; suggests, furthermore, that the Commission look into potential uses of open coordination for the purpose of preventing natural disasters;

15.  Emphasises the need to speed up the procedure to access EU funds for the recovery of agricultural land following floods and fires and for more financial aid to be made available for the development of flood defences; stresses the fatal effects of forest fires and floods on animals and livestock, and asks that assistance be provided in the clearing up of carcasses and remains in order to prevent the spread of disease;

16.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and the regional authorities affected by the fires and floods.

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