Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-10-09-Speech-3-133"
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"en.20021009.9.3-133"2
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"Commissioner, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome the speed with which the Commission has put forward the proposals to set up a solidarity fund and the promptness with which our institution is able to respond to them. By this, we are showing that the European Union is reactive and responds to the concerns of its citizens.
I also welcome the fact that the recommendations that the European Parliament is preparing to make emphasise an important point, namely an emergency fund, the aim of which is to provide essential relief items to those affected. The mechanisms for releasing the appropriations which are put in place as well as the timeframes specified must, as a necessity, take into account this specific point. European money must arrive quickly on the ground in order to assist victims at the time when they need it most.
Because the aim of this Fund is to demonstrate in practical terms the solidarity of Europe's citizens towards disaster victims, many Members of Parliament and I myself would like the intervention thresholds to be more generous and to take into account regional characteristics. It is now the Council’s responsibility to tackle this point. I believe, however, that if Parliament insists that flexible qualitative criteria be taken into account when releasing funds, it must be heard. It is possible that a disaster destroying poor regions of the Union, the outermost regions for example, or which completely devastates a territory, as has happened recently in the South of France, will not be able to benefit from European solidarity, because of nothing more than accounting reasons. I must say that, personally speaking, I believe it is essential that natural disasters are handled separately and as a priority, because, in this case, it is impossible to identify who is responsible and therefore to claim insurance. It is in these cases that European funds are most needed.
As a final, very brief, point, I would like to reiterate that repairs must go hand in hand with the implementation of a genuine policy of prevention and that of a European civil protection force, in order to give rapid assistance to those European citizens who are in the most difficulty."@en1
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