Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-01-Speech-1-052"
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"en.20030901.5.1-052"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin, first of all, by thanking President Cox for responding so promptly to the letters written by Mrs Figueiredo and those that I myself wrote on behalf of my group when the crisis in Portugal was still unfolding, and for announcing so promptly that this debate would take place, despite being on his summer holidays from 11 August onwards. I am also grateful for the fact that, within the Groups and in the Conference of Presidents, this debate has been marked, as we requested, by a declaration by the Commission and a vote on a resolution at the end.
I would also like to thank Commissioner Barnier for making himself available for this debate, for the words he spoke at the start of the debate, for his amicable and thoughtful visit to our country, for the statements he made there and also, of course, for the concern shown by the Commission even before that, through Commissioners Diamantopoulou and Vitorino.
Having expressed my gratitude, I must now tell you the facts and appeal for help. To tell you a little about the tragedy my country has been through: three weeks of profound anguish, the savage destruction suffered by our country and which was caused above all – though there are, of course, always several factors involved in such phenomena – by truly terrible weather conditions. They were not only terrible because they were abnormal in terms of temperature, humidity, and continental winds, abnormal in nature: they were also abnormal in their duration. In fact, the really distressing thing, which was a terrible tragedy for those who were directly affected and most involved in fighting the fires, was that we were at the centre of the action and perfectly aware of our powerlessness while the weather remained the same. Indeed, it was only when the weather finally relented, on 14 August, about three weeks after the crisis had been unleashed with such great intensity, that we saw it abate.
We are therefore dealing with a natural disaster whose devastating human, social and economic consequences have already been mentioned here. Various figures have been quoted: 5% of the total land area, 11% of woodland. These statistics are misleading, however, because, as we have already heard, in several of the worst-affected municipalities those percentages rose to 80% of woodland, more than 50% of the land area, 70% in some cases. Furthermore, these figures are no more than that: figures. One needs to see with one’s own eyes, as Commissioner Barnier has seen and as he has testified.
In recent days, I myself have revisited various areas such as Vila do Rei, Mação and Gavião. To give you an idea of the situation: in Gavião, a town in the north of the District of Portalegre, on a hill, from a tower behind the church, looking inland towards the horizon — we are talking about an area many kilometres across — everything, over the mountains, to the left, to the right, and straight ahead, is scorched. That is the true enormity of what has befallen my country, and the reason why my country is asking for assistance and support from the European Union.
The Commissioner quite rightly mentioned the speed with which the government acted, especially in setting the wheels of the Community machinery in motion, and also the speed with which the Commission acted. I align myself, however, with those of my fellow Members who are asking Parliament for greater means with which to respond in a more caring and generous way to my government’s request. Portugal applied for around EUR 50 million from the Solidarity Fund, and I believe it is right to grant that sum. I understand the Commission’s rules, but I think the Portuguese application is reasonable. EUR 50 million is the sum advanced by the Council of Ministers at the height of the Portuguese crisis, and this sum equals the value of national contributions to the restructuring of various Community programmes already mentioned by the Commissioner. I believe, though, that my government did its sums well and applied to Parliament for aid on that basis.
Furthermore, as my fellow Members have said, this is not only a question of harnessing the Solidarity Fund. Other programmes must also be restructured as appropriate, especially as the date fixed for the second reading of the Forest Focus regulation for 2003-2008 is fast approaching.
I believe that this crisis, which struck my country particularly hard, proves that Parliament was right to adopt the positions we voted for here at first reading and that the representatives of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese governments were right to abstain from the common position when it was discussed months ago, drawing attention as they did to the need to increase forest fire prevention means under this programme. I therefore trust that when that regulation returns for second reading in a few weeks’ time, we will all unanimously restate the positions adopted by Parliament at first reading and that, as a result, both the Council and the Commission will come to share those Parliamentary positions."@en1
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