Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-16-Speech-4-192"
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"en.19991216.9.4-192"2
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"Mr President, Mr Michel Barnier explained here on 16 November that the Commission is following the problems caused by the floods in four
in southern France very closely, that it deeply regrets the loss of life and that it will do its utmost, as and where it has the authority and means to do so, to ensure that the damaged areas obtain suitable support. Solidarity will certainly not be lacking. Nonetheless, we must be allowed and we must be able to exercise it.
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The motions for resolutions call on the Commission to intervene in various forms in order to repair the tremendous material damage. This is also in keeping with the wishes recently expressed by the responsible politicians in the region to both President Prodi and Michel Barnier.
I have to tell you that it will not be possible to provide extraordinary emergency help for families in the damaged regions. That does not require any special justification here in Parliament, given that no-one except Parliament need defend its budget rights. As you know, there has been no specific budget line in the budget of the European Community to pay for natural disasters in countries of the Union for years now. I do not think, given the protection of Parliament’s rights, that we can simply act as if this situation did not exist.
The motions to support farmers in the form of disaster aid can, however, be examined within the framework of Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/99 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. On the other hand, the deployment of resources left over in the Structural Funds from the programme planning period 1994 to 1999 is hardly worth considering as the available funds have already been allocated to specific measures, in this case in close collaboration with the relevant French authorities. We have already re-programmed at the request of the relevant French authorities. In the view of the relevant Commission services and French agencies, this will account for all the Community funds provided.
For the new programming phase from January 2000, the damaged areas in the four
in question, which currently qualify for support as Objective II or Objective V areas for the period from 1994 to 1999 or which belong to the new Objective II areas, could obtain money from the Structural Funds.
As a result, the Commission can grant financial aid to restore infrastructures and equipment which qualifies for support as well as aid to agricultural structures within the framework of the forthcoming programme planning for the period from 2000 to 2006, which is shortly to be discussed with the French authorities. Account must be taken in this respect of the fact that aid to build or restore housing will not qualify for intervention by the Structural Funds.
It should also be borne in mind that the provisions of the regulation require an
environmental impact study for all forms of intervention by the Structural Funds. Here again, Parliament, with its particular emphasis on the environmental aspect, would certainly not understand if we were to waive this.
Allow me to say a few more words about the problem of the risk area. Once the French authorities have finalised estimates of the damage, the Commission will be able to provide specific support to protect against natural dangers within the framework of the new programme planning for 2000 to 2006 in the form of cofinancing for investments. That applies in particular to soil protection, the regulation of watercourses and the local water systems.
Allow me to conclude with a brief word on Vietnam because I think that there is definitely a difference when a leading industrial country or one of the poorest developing countries in the world is hit by a natural disaster. The European Commission is well aware of the dramatic situation in which the victims of the floods in Vietnam find themselves. They have been the worst for forty years. The European Union has provided emergency aid. ECHO is currently analysing the situation in the areas affected in order to assess the extent of additional damage and the requirements of the provinces affected. Then we will answer the question of whether European aid for Vietnam should be increased. The European Union is working with all the international organisations dealing with the situation in Vietnam in a spirit of cooperation and trust. We are trying here to coordinate disaster aid as sensibly as possible."@en1
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