Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-17-Speech-4-228"
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"en.20010517.11.4-228"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission would like to thank the House for its understanding of the consequences of the floods in France. The Commission regrets the problems and damage caused by the bad weather, which were particularly severe in the
of the Somme in the region of Picardie. The Commission has said that it is prepared to use all the measures at its disposal to facilitate the reconstruction of the area affected and the restoration of economic productivity. I refer here to measures within the framework of regional policy, agricultural policy, rural development policy and state aid policy.
Within regional policy and rural development policy, much of the
affected is eligible under Objective 2 of the Structural Funds for the 2000 to 2006 programming period. The programme for the region of Picardie, which has a Community contribution of 1.7 billion francs for the period from 2000 to 2006, already contains measures against natural disasters. The Commission is waiting for suggestions from the French authorities and calls on the French authorities to present these proposals, so that the means provided for in the programme for the economic restoration of the areas affected can be supplied. As far as agricultural policy is concerned, the Commission has already taken the initiative to give producers a great deal of flexibility as regards the eligibility of aid for large scale arable farming and set aside. For the rest, the Commission has approved certain interpretations of current legal provisions by the French authorities. The Commission has also introduced measures to extend the seed time beyond 15 June.
As far as state aid for the areas affected is concerned, the Commission shall do everything in its power within the framework of legal provisions to deal quickly with notifications of and approval for any state aid to remedy the damage caused.
A few members of the House addressed the question of immediate assistance for families in the areas affected. Unfortunately, the Commission cannot see how it can accommodate this request. As you know, it is several years since state posts for disasters and immediate aid in the Member States were reported in the budget of the European Union and I do not think that Parliament will call on the Commission to make payments which it is not legally authorised to make.
In view of the fact that there are other ways of providing Community aid for this sort of disaster, the Commission takes the view that it would be premature, given the financial and human resources currently at its disposal, to re-table such a proposal."@en1
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