Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-05-Speech-1-068"
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"en.20050905.18.1-068"2
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".
Mr President, as the Commissioner responsible for the environment has pointed out, this summer we in the European Union have been the victims of disasters caused by fire and by water, and while some regions are seriously threatened by gradual desertification, others are living in fear of floods. This is a demonstration of European diversity and of the need to be sensitive to the realities faced by others.
In several countries of the south of Europe, the fires have led to the loss of dozens of human lives, the evacuation of entire populations and extraordinary environmental damage. It is true that we are suffering a year of drought, but I believe that it is unacceptable to resign ourselves to fate. On the contrary, it is our responsibility to analyse the underlying causes of the disasters that are repeated year after year, and to find out what we are doing wrong or, quite simply, what we are failing to do. The Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats therefore proposes the creation of a temporary committee in our Parliament. That committee should assess which concrete measures we could adopt in Europe to complement those that are being implemented in the Member States.
Fire does not stop at national borders, and we should therefore create a European protocol for fighting fires; we should at least consider creating a specific European agency and – why not? – specialised cross-border bodies. Commissioner, twenty-four hours is sometimes too long. Without prejudice to the role of the European Solidarity Fund, I believe it would be a mistake to restrict ourselves to seeking funds every time we suffer a fire. We must go further: for example, the European Commission, with the support of the Council, has removed the aid to farmers for the creation, clearing and monitoring of firebreaks, and that is something that should perhaps be reconsidered.
Mr President, these are some of the proposals we could evaluate in this temporary committee that the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats proposes be created in our Parliament."@en1
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