Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-16-Speech-4-132"
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"en.19990916.9.4-132"2
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"Mr President, could I say how grateful I am to the honourable Members from all parties for putting down motions for resolution on the tragic effects of the earthquakes in both Turkey and Greece. I also join honourable Members in offering the deepest sympathy of the Commission to all who lost friends and loved ones and all who have suffered injury in the terrible disasters in both countries.
The recent earthquakes, as several honourable Members have commented, were obviously unmitigated tragedies but once again they showed that the human capacity for mercy can be greater than any long-standing divisions. In the international effort for Turkish victims, the Greek Government gave instant support. When the earth trembled in Athens, the Turkish Government was one of the first to send relief workers and equipment. Let us hope that what we have seen graphically demonstrated, indeed movingly in this Chamber this afternoon, and the genuinely humane gestures undertaken by both Greeks and Turks in recent weeks, will lead to the strengthening of relations between the two neighbours and between Turkey and the European Union.
It is clear that nothing can heal the grief. Practical help can, however, ease some of the misery. The Commission took speedy action to try to assist the Turkish people and its government in their efforts to deal with the catastrophe.
The first priority, immediately after the earthquakes, was obviously to try to rescue and care for survivors. To this end, and in parallel with the systems provided by Member States and the wider international community, the Commission delivered EUR 4 million for first aid services and equipment through ECHO in two tranches. In addition, following a visit by the Finnish Presidency and Commissioner van den Broek to Turkey on 26 August, a financial package of EUR 30 million is currently being assembled to help with the current emergency and rehabilitation activities.
To permit swift utilisation of the funds, the EUR 30 million will also be allocated through ECHO. Emphasis will probably be put on temporary dwellings and repair works for essential public infrastructure like schools and hospitals. A more precise picture of needs will result from the joint assessment mission similar to the one that has just been called for, I would presume, that is being undertaken in the disaster areas by ECHO, the Commission’s representation in Ankara, the United Nations and the World Bank acting collectively. In the medium to long-term, reconstruction needs will clearly have to be addressed after comprehensive damage assessment. Meanwhile the Commission envisages the use of the following instruments to support further rehabilitation and reconstruction works.
Firstly, from 2000 onwards, Turkey should receive a share which reflects its important reconstruction needs from the MEDA 2 funds. Secondly, as this House will know, there are two regulations before the Council and this Parliament that will underpin the European strategy for Turkey. Those regulations foresee a total of EUR 150 million for Turkey over a three-year period which the Turkish Government regards as being of significant help. This week’s General Affairs Council committed itself to adoption and implementation of the regulations as soon as possible and asks the European Parliament - this is the Council speaking - to take this into account in their consideration. I hope that this House will seek to expedite its consideration of the legislation which has been here since last spring as far as my knowledge extends. I hope, therefore, that the honourable Members directly engaged in that consideration will not further delay their work.
Thirdly, the European Investment Bank is asked to make a special effort – we think around EUR 600 million worth of lending - to support reconstruction needs. Plainly that will require an additional allocation from the guarantee budget line.
In addition to these developments, the Commission envisages the possibility of acting in coordination with the IMF in granting Turkey macrofinancial assistance geared towards maintaining the reform process under what are evidently difficult conditions.
We trust that these short, medium and longer-term support initiatives will be of sustained help to the people of Turkey and we are sure that people right across the European Union will join us in hoping that the arduous task of restoring communities and morale will be successful.
As the House will know, and as we have heard from several honourable Members in their statements and speeches in the course of this afternoon, the people of Greece also suffered tragic deaths and damage in recent earthquakes and further tremors. As this Parliament will also recognise, there are no funds on the budget line for emergency aid within the Community. There is, therefore, little that the Commission can do to give material support to the efforts of the Greek people and its government in the short-term. However, together with the Greek Government, the Commission will look into the possibilities of reallocating some of the unused Objective 2 resources for reconstruction support in Greece."@en1
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