Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-04-Speech-1-142"
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"en.20060904.20.1-142"2
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"Mr President, this year's fires in the Mediterranean were the usual sad summer phenomenon. However, in certain countries, the inefficient way in which they were dealt with by the state mechanism was unprecedented. We must learn from our mistakes.
Unfortunately in my country, Greece, preparations were for the first time in many years clearly inappropriate. Two areas of Greece, Halkidiki and Mani, suffered incalculable ecological and economic damage. It transpired that this happened in large part due to poor planning and coordination, resulting in approximately 50% of fire-fighting 'planes being immobilised.
All this would perhaps be a Greek family matter, if the forests lost did not constitute a loss not only for the natural wealth of Greece or Spain or France, but also for the wealth of Europe as a whole.
This being so, what causes particular surprise is that the Greek Government did not request – I repeat did not request – assistance from the European Union Monitoring and Information Centre, unlike the Spanish Government, which requested and received civil protection aid on 9 August, including fire-fighting 'planes.
As many speakers rightly emphasised, Europe needs a common civil protection force straight away, as Parliament has repeatedly requested. What point is there in our endeavouring to create European civil protection mechanisms when some governments ignore them so flagrantly?
Similarly, the newly set up European Solidarity Fund must be ready to provide aid. I call from this tribune for the Commission to use the political considerations at its disposal to mobilise the necessary aid for the residents of the areas affected and for the Council to urgently align the rules for activating the Solidarity Fund with Parliament's proposals of 3 April 2006.
In 2006, the European Commission presented its proposal for changing the existing Community civil protection mechanism. I had the honour of drafting the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, in which we proposed – and I would emphasise this – that prevention should be included in funding. Today this does not exist, it is not possible.
Lastly, the Commission must exert its influence on the Member States, so that, at the very least, stricter legislation is introduced on changes of land use and reforestation after fires is mandatory."@en1
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