Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-04-Speech-3-359"
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"en.20090204.19.3-359"2
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"Madam President, as my fellow Members have reminded us, this storm has exacted a heavy toll. There are victims in France and Spain and this evening we think of them and their families. 200 000 hectares of forest have been destroyed in the south west of France.
In fact, this storm has ravaged 60% of the Landes forest. 1.7 million homes were without electricity at the height of the storm, and 3 200 of them in the Landes are still without electricity. Thousands had their phone lines cut and also their water supply disrupted. Many roads are still impassable due to obstacles such as fallen trees, power lines, floods or landslips. The services are endeavouring to restore everything as quickly as possible.
While I am pleased that the French Government has formally committed itself to submitting an application so that the areas of France affected can benefit from this fund, I deplore the fact that the French Presidency did not deem it necessary to press for a review of this fund.
This fund, as you, Commissioner, and my fellow Members have said, is still blocked by the Council of Ministers. As far as Parliament is concerned, it is about covering any major natural disaster which causes serious harm to the population and the environment, like floods, fires and droughts. However, we are going further by also including man-made phenomena, like catastrophes caused by terrorist attacks.
Our Parliament has also declared itself in favour of lowering the threshold for assistance. Now, if we question whether this Solidarity Fund is working for the affected regions, we can see that we risk being below the damage threshold. Now, this is a situation where, ultimately, several countries are affected. Therefore, I think that this threshold should also be reviewed to show that European solidarity really can exist.
As you have said, Commissioner, and my fellow Members have underlined, this sort of event will be repeated due to the results of climate change. The Commission has already announced a Communication on adapting to climate change.
It is important from now on for this Solidarity Fund to be a genuine European instrument for protecting citizens. It is time Europe showed that, in tragic situations, it is there to protect its citizens."@en1
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