Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-15-Speech-3-293"
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"en.20041215.11.3-293"2
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".
Mr President, I am pleased that Parliament supports the Commission's proposal for the extension of the Community action programme on civil protection for the years 2005 and 2006. I very much appreciate the efforts that have gone into this report, in particular the work of Mr Papadimoulis, the rapporteur.
With these remarks, I reiterate my thanks to the rapporteur and to Parliament as a whole for this thoughtful and constructive opinion.
May I add that my colleague, Commissioner Dimas, sends his apologies for not being here. He is in Buenos Aires and asked me to replace him.
Before I go into detail on this report, I think it is worth recalling the work done under the auspices of this action plan since its adoption in December 1999. The objectives of the civil protection action programme are to help to ensure better protection for people, the environment and property in the event of natural or technological disasters across the Community. The action programme has funded a range of useful projects, exchanges of experts and workshops that build invaluable cooperation and also mutual assistance between the Member States' civil protection services.
The action programme supports and supplements efforts at national, regional and local levels. Emphasis has been put on major projects concerning prevention, information of the public, crisis management, disaster medicine and networking among the different volunteer associations active on the ground.
In recent years we have seen major disasters. You will recall the floods in central and eastern Europe in the summer of 2002, the
oil spill, also in the same year, the unprecedented heatwave and devastating forest fires in southern Europe in the summer of 2003. This year we were shocked by the violent terrorist attack in Madrid and saddened by the earthquakes in Iran and Morocco. These events clearly illustrated the need for further action to strengthen prevention and preparedness measures and also to enhance our ability to respond rapidly and in solidarity as a European Union.
The Commission believes that major progress has been made in recent years in the contribution and role of the EU in civil protection. The rapporteur has rightly highlighted some issues in the report, and these are both valuable and constructive remarks that we will take into account in our future work.
I would like to react immediately to a number of points. The report recommends 'better sharing of information on available resources, expertise and successful strategies and practices at national level'. The Commission agrees that our database of resources should be further upgraded and contain more data on responsive capacities, associated costs and available equipment. The Commission is currently working with Member States on these issues.
The report argues for an improved operational framework for volunteers and for the establishment of guidelines for their work. This is a helpful suggestion and echoes the emphasis that the Commission is now putting on the work on this subject, which was and will remain a priority for financing in 2005.
Let me turn to the issue of financing assistance during emergencies. This is an issue of concern to us, but depends on having a sufficient level of funding available. For the time being the budgetary resources available only permit financing of experts who travel to the scene of disasters to assess needs for assistance. Additional financing depends at present on the donating and receiving Member States. I should like to add that there is also, as you know, the possibility to use the EU Solidarity Fund to provide compensation to a country suffering severe damage from a disaster.
Finally, the report asks the Commission to provide a report on the programme in 2006. We have no difficulty in accepting this request."@en1
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