Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-13-Speech-1-049"
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"en.20040913.4.1-049"2
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".
Mr President, this debate has illustrated the complexity of this issue, which affects us at all levels. We know that climate change will probably increase these types of extreme weather events and it is quite probable that we will see more of these problems occurring, as the International Panel of Climate Change has told us. That underlines the responsibility that is shared between the different levels.
The European Union, the Commission and the institutions will have to act in a coordinated way to ensure that we have the necessary capacity. Member States will also have to be sure that they have done everything for prevention and that we have a higher level of preparedness to deal with these forest fires, extreme weather events and catastrophes.
It is a matter of resources – such as fire brigades – and being able to mobilise them quickly. It is also a matter of having resources for prevention activities. So there is a whole spectrum of activities and responsibilities. We are addressing that. You know as well as the Commission does that Member States in general are very reluctant to engage in a debate on a common forest policy for Europe, so we are also touching upon very sensitive political issues and responsibilities.
Even if we set aside more money, it is not always true that this would help immediately, unless there is better coordination of activities, unless there is better planning for prevention and preparedness on the part also of Member States. I just want to underline that as welcome as more money is, it is not always a matter of only having more money; there also has to be better planning and coordination in Member States.
Thank you for this valuable debate on an issue that we risk having to raise again in the near future. I appreciate the interest you show in finding common solutions to prevent forest fires, to fight them and also to mitigate the damage they cause – because the funding has often been a matter of mitigating and trying to come in after the damage has been done – as well as to help Member States restore their potential for forestry production.
I have noted several suggestions that I will also take into due consideration after this plenary part-session and there will be a follow-up. I believe we could further increase transparency concerning the application of existing instruments. We will also examine the need for additional prevention measures when implementing the Forest Focus regulation as we will do when considering the proposal for the Council's Rural Development regulation.
As a first modest step, next November the Commission will hold a conference entitled 'Citizen participation from restoration to prevention – good governance for the restoration campaign to follow forest fires in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia and Cyprus'. So it will also take into account the experience that we have gathered. It will focus on restoration and involvement of civil society because, as you said, the causes can be anything from climate change to the human factor.
We must seek to identify the lessons learned from last year's events, raise awareness among citizens and local and regional authorities, and collect suggestions for the future. So there is also work to do to improve our activities in this field. I am happy that we have found today a common view on possible actions that we should focus on for the future. I once again thank you for this debate."@en1
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