Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-03-Speech-2-154"
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"en.20020903.6.2-154"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like, as an Austrian MEP, to start by expressing my gratitude for the possibility of prompt and speedy help. These sad events have brought us closer to achieving the proximity to our citizens for which we have often longed. It has been possible to give Europe a slightly better image. Brussels, that bureaucratic monster, seems to embody solidarity, and may that not remain merely an outward show. Disasters have more than a merely national dimension. European solidarity is called for, and the EU has come up with the right response. Alongside the countless victims, whom we mourn, there are so many individuals and families on the brink of ruin; we have businesses both small and large, farmers, the environment, agriculture, public services, historic buildings, art treasures, including in the candidate countries, in need of prompt and speedy aid, given on a joint basis and without strings attached. It is of little interest to the public whence the money comes and how we do all the restructuring. We have to tackle this promptly, speedily and swiftly. Aid must be visible.
Turning to the follow-up measures and to the long-term measures, I would like to underline what my fellow-Members have said, namely that climate change has become a brutal reality. Man-made climate change has arrived. Mr Barón Crespo said that we must have greater humility where nature is concerned, but to do so demands more effective action, more effective political action, on our part. Commissioner Barnier repeatedly emphasised the need for preventive measures. Not only are these necessary and cheaper, they also take greater care of the environment. I hope – and it is in these terms that I appeal to all the Member States, to the Commission and to this House – that these do not merely express pious aspirations, but will be implemented in all relevant policy areas.
It is in the light of this that we should give ourselves time to engage in detailed discussion of the Disaster Fund. There is not much point in simply blundering into the rebuilding of what has been destroyed if we have not previously gathered all the available information we need, especially in environmentally sensitive areas. We simply have to rebuild in a sustainable way. Public expectations of this EU of ours, of this community of solidarity, have grown and will carry on growing. So congratulations on these ad hoc measures; we should be equally zealous in identifying the structures for the future, for our solidarity should be not only with those who are the victims now, but with everyone, and not only today, but also tomorrow."@en1
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