Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-05-Speech-1-087"
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"en.20050905.18.1-087"2
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"Mr President, I should like first of all to express my support for the victims of the forest fires, which, this summer, set ablaze certain regions in Southern Europe. Unfortunately, the problem of forest fires is not a new phenomenon. For over 13 years, the issue of preventing these fires and repairing the damage has been the subject of an action framework at Community level, and for years now the tragic consequences of these fires have met with sorrow in this House at the first part-session after the recess; it is high time that action was taken.
The European Union needs firstly to strengthen cross-border cooperation. Very often, the Member States use incompatible equipment. There is also an urgent need to propose Community action programmes for civil protection that are worthy of the name. More generally, and without substituting for the Member States, the European Union must accord forests the status they deserve both at political and institutional level.
The Commission’s proposal on forestry strategy, which we are currently examining, seems to me to be slightly half-hearted. Forests make up 40% of the surface of the European Union. They generate significant economic activity and have environmental and recreational capacities that I will not point out here. They deserve better than a minor role between the environment and agriculture. For these reasons and in order to be even more effective, we must give serious thought to creating an Agency for Forests, not to mention – it is not a crime to dream – a Directorate General specifically focused on forests."@en1
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