Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-07-Speech-4-220"
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"en.20000907.9.4-220"2
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". – The Commission deeply regrets the loss of human life as well as the ecological and economic damage caused by the recent forest fires in Europe.
The principle of subsidiarity has been mentioned in this debate. We have to avoid raising too many expectations and overloading the Commission with tasks. We must be careful not to promise things we cannot deliver. Frankly, there has been enough of that in the past. We should be careful, when entering into discussions such as this, not to automatically assume that the Commission will solve the problem. We can and should do something, but I wanted to make that cautionary remark.
To get to the core of this discussion, the question of an emergency aid budget line, the Commission is considering proposing a legal basis for such a line at the moment.
However, the Commission might consider financial support for the restoration of the forestry production potential on the basis of the rural development regulation, No 1257/1999. According to the Greek authorities, the financial contributions from the agricultural funds are not sufficient for a substantial contribution to be made to the restoration work.
The Commission therefore invites the Greek authorities to present proposals for the amendment of the development programme so that the necessary appropriations can be considered.
I should like to draw your attention to EC Regulation No 2158/1992, under which preventive action in relation to forest fires may be financed. Each Member State should verify that all the necessary steps have been taken to reduce the risk of fires to a minimum. New Commission initiatives are already in effect, or will shortly become effective. A proposal for a Council decision establishing a Community mechanism for the coordination of emergency civil protection action will be considered by the college in the near future. This will aim to improve the mutual assistance between Member States. It will also have an important side effect in that it will help third countries to manage unexpected emergencies or disasters they would not be able to handle by themselves. Through this coordination mechanism Member States will be invited to identify groups which can intervene at short notice at the scene.
The Commission recently initiated a satellite-based project to improve information on operational fire fighting centres in the Mediterranean region, with the aim of determining the levels of risk from day to day. We will consider whether this could lead to a system for early detection of forest fires. The Commission is also encouraging Member States to reinforce their intervention capacities. The Regional Fund and the Cohesion Fund have already contributed substantially in the period 1994-99. The national authorities should provide for the necessary financial resources to consolidate this action for the period 2000-06.
In general, the decision on the acquisition of such fire-fighting equipment will remain the responsibility of the Member States. Self-tuition workshops on fighting forest fires are also planned. However the Commission does not have enough resources to extend its activities beyond that. The Structural Funds can be used for restoration after natural disasters and advantage has been taken of this possibility in recent years."@en1
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