Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-05-Speech-1-072"
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"en.20050905.18.1-072"2
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"We welcome the scheduling of this debate, as we proposed at the beginning of August.
Some 200 000 hectares of forest in Portugal and over 120 000 hectares in Spain have thus far been scorched as a result of the severe drought. Dozens of human lives, including those of firefighters, have been lost; homes, farms and factories have been destroyed; protected ecosystems have been lost. That is without mentioning the heavy emotional cost, for which nothing, nobody, will compensate. We therefore wish to express our deepest condolences and our solidarity with the bereaved families and with the populations in the affected regions. We should also like to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by the firefighters and the people that have made efforts to combat the fires.
In light of the seriousness of the situation, the Commission must quickly step up its collaboration with the national authorities to support the populations, to help minimise the effects of the fires and the flooding, to support all national support initiatives aimed at restoring the production capacities of the affected regions, thereby creating jobs and providing compensation for the social costs involved in job losses and destruction of livelihoods. This can be done by activating the Solidarity Fund for the regions and countries affected, if necessary by changing it. Community administrative procedures must be facilitated, especially those relating to the need to re-programme the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. Measures must be taken to make these procedures more flexible. Support must be given for the reforestation of the affected areas – taking account of their bio-climatic and ecological characteristics – and for forest fire prevention measures, such as firebreaks, forest tracks, access points, water points and forestry programmes. Payment of certain direct aid to farmers under the common agricultural policy must be brought forward so as to take account of the problem of the fires and the drought on the farming sector. Article 87(2) of the Treaty must also be implemented as a matter of urgency, with the aim of granting appropriate financial aid to all affected sectors. A further urgently required measure is the implementation of an effective, Community-wide protection system, in order to protect farmers, especially small and medium-sized holdings, against dangers and crises such as those arising from the current drought and fires, or floods. Possible measures include a public farmers’ insurance scheme financed by Community funds, enabling farmers to receive a minimum wage in the event of public disasters of this nature."@en1
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