Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-10-09-Speech-3-139"
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"en.20021009.9.3-139"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start with very warm thanks to the rapporteur and all Members and staff of this House who have made it possible for this report on the establishment of the Solidarity Fund to be adopted so quickly. As certain Members of this House have already pointed out, the distribution of resources for the affected regions is dependent on it, and that not only in the Member States, but also in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is this prompt action that helps the EU to be taken seriously as a Union for its citizens, and to show that the same EU is capable of responding with efficiency and speed to the emergency situations in which they find themselves.
Mr Karas has already referred to the fact that I too come from one of the regions affected, and I can assure you that people are really grateful for this solidarity. As well as the great damage sustained by roads, bridges, railway infrastructure and public and private buildings, over 20 000 hectares of farmland were devastated. Let me repeat that the damage in Austria amounts to something in the order of EUR 6 to 7 billion. The new Solidarity Fund is intended to be – indeed, it must be – a powerful instrument in an emergency and, for that reason, one whose use is targeted. I would like to give my wholehearted support to the rapporteur's proposals, and thus to those of the Committee on the Regions, as regards fixing the threshold at EUR 1 billion or 0.5% of GDP. The threshold of EUR 3 billion demanded by the Council strikes me as too high. It is also right to require that the financial resources be drawn on within two years. The two-month deadline cannot but be supported, as, if aid is to be given quickly, applications for it must be made with equal speed.
Demands continue to be made on the Member States, which cannot evade their responsibilities for preventive measures or long-term reconstruction work, for which we will yet need much in the way of resources. My especially warm thanks are due to the Commission for coming up with proposals so fast, and especially for the Commissioners having been on the spot with the President of the Commission, and for these funds of EUR 1 billion being available. I really do hope that we will vote in favour of this report tomorrow and thus enable the funds to get to the victims as soon as possible. Parliament and the Commission will then have done their duty, and it is my very real hope that the Council will pass the necessary resolutions in October, so that the money will at last reach the victims."@en1
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