Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-13-Speech-1-047"
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"en.20040913.4.1-047"2
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"Mr President, there is no question that the people mainly responsible for forest fires are the people who cause them. In 96% of cases, the causes are attributable to man, and that is why the Spanish Government has announced a series of measures, including stiffer penalties for this crime and a ban on building in the areas in question.
Neither must we forget other causes, as has already been pointed out. The change in the socio-economic structures of rural areas seems to be the most fundamental one, but also the lack of success of European forest and rural development policy. The majority of fires start in forests which are uncared-for, as a result of the abandonment of traditional agricultural activity, the ageing of the population and the demographic crisis. The EAGGF funds or the rural development policy cannot, however, carry the whole burden of this serious problem, Mrs Wallström. The serious environmental consequences of forest fires make European action necessary. The difficulties you are aware of in the application of the Solidarity Fund should be alleviated through the creation of a specific rapid intervention mechanism in the event of these disasters of a smaller scale and involving lesser sums than those provided for by the Solidarity Fund. Furthermore, and at the same time, European forest policy should be reoriented, recognising the special nature of southern forests and creating a specific plan for their protection and for the complete environmental recovery of the burnt areas.
I will end by saying something – and I hope it is not taken the wrong way: I believe that party politics should be left out of this debate and that we should seek consensus amongst all of us. Otherwise – in Galicia it rains and in Andalusia it does not – certain Members should perhaps start to ask themselves what the EUR 820 million Commissioner Wallström has mentioned has been spent on."@en1
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