Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-16-Speech-4-179"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20001116.10.4-179"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, the recent floods wrought havoc and destruction throughout Europe, particularly throughout Britain and Ireland. In my own constituency the towns of Clonmel, Fermoy and Mallow were the worst affected. It was heartbreaking to witness the scenes of destruction of so many peoples' homes and to learn of the problems that were being experienced by many communities, businesses and farmers.
It is very regrettable that we, the European Union, do not have a budget line to assist those who face these particular difficulties, despite my attempts and attempts by others over many years to get such a budget line instated. What I find puzzling about it is the damage it has done to areas of the economy where the European Union commits significant funds, particularly in relation to infrastructure. It is about time that we rectified it.
The EU, in cooperation with Member State governments, should initiate a preventative action programme to strengthen infrastructure in order to stop the same scale of destruction recurring in the future when extreme weather conditions prevail. The problem is that we know when these weather conditions are coming but no one seems to do anything to prevent the worst damage being inflicted.
The other problem I would like to raise is the additional burden that the victims of these particular tragedies will also experience, the point mentioned by my colleague, Mr Deva, namely the refusal of many insurance companies to continue insurance cover. I wonder whether or not we, as a Union, could force these insurance companies under existing law to discharge what are essentially moral obligations, rather than do as they do at present and cherry pick and prefer a no-risk situation. However, if we cannot force them to do that then it is an area into which Member State governments must step, to see whether or not it is possible, under the umbrella of the EU, to oblige Member State governments to provide state cover. It is not fair that people should experience tragedies of this proportion and then face a very uncertain future when, given the climatic changes already taking place, there is an absolute certainty that the problems they have experienced over the last couple of weeks will recur, if not next year, then certainly in the years that follow."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples