Wildfires in Spain and Portugal and the EU's coordinated response
18.10.2017
Question for written answer E-006542-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea (ALDE)
The recent wildfire crisis in Spain has left four people dead and 11 500 hectares of land reduced to ashes. In Portugal, 41 people have lost their lives and 71 have suffered injuries.
Last summer, Portugal asked for the Community Civil Protection Mechanism to be activated. However, the country did not receive the response it needed because assistance from other Member States (namely, supplying equipment and mobilising emergency services) is provided on a voluntary basis.
Given that efforts to improve the Community Civil Protection Mechanism (Decision 2007/779/EC) have not gone far enough and bearing in mind the recent remarks made by Commissioner Stylianides, who warned of the ‘need to step up European coordination and support’ and to ‘improve and strengthen our rapid response capacity’:
- 1.Does the Commission plan to promote reform of the Community Civil Protection Mechanism with a view to improving rapid responses to disasters of this kind and making it compulsory for Member States to contribute?
- 2.Did the Spanish authorities ask for the Community Civil Protection Mechanism to be activated and what was the response and role of the Monitoring and Information Centre during the crisis?
- 3.Will the Commission raise this issue and other measures to be adopted in the struggle against wildfires at the next meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 9 November 2017?