Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-05-Speech-1-079"
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"en.20050905.18.1-079"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in a verse, the greatest Portuguese poet once described love as ‘fire that burns without being seen’.
Let us wipe out misery, sadness, impotence, terror, anguish, death and the destruction of wealth. Let us raise the flags of confidence in the present and hope for the future.
It is a matter of urgent priority that we minimise losses of all kinds arising from the fires and the drought in Portugal. Portuguese citizens confidently expect a significant gesture of support from the citizens of other parts of Europe, a gesture that should be given material form by Europe’s institutions. This is the only way in which we will achieve more and better Europe. This is the only way in which Europe will fulfil its destiny.
I should like to talk to you about other fires – ones that burn and can be seen; fires that cause something very different from love, because they spread sadness, they confirm how impotent we are, they cause terror, they induce anguish, they kill, they destroy wealth and they undermine confidence in the present and hope for the future. This has manifested itself in a great sea of grey, and a giant cloak of smoke continues to lay waste to Portugal, especially the Central and Northern regions.
The forest fire disaster has thus far given us some terrible statistics; the fires have burnt more than 240 000 hectares! Yesterday, indeed, Motorway number 1, which links Lisbon and Oporto, was closed to traffic for hours, due to a fire burning near the town of Fátima. At the same time, flames continued to devastate the districts of Aveiro, Bragança, Guarda, Leiria, Santarém and Viseu.
In my district, Coimbra, which is the worst affected, the flames have consumed 32 km2 in the municipality of Pampilhosa da Serra alone, and only 8 km2 of forest remained. This municipality has been totally decimated and has virtually been wiped off the map.
In the city of Coimbra itself, the fire leapt over the River Mondego, penetrated well into the urban area and levelled everything in its path. The flames travelled 20 km in three hours. Some 80% of the Vale de Canas National Forest has been destroyed. Other municipalities in the region, such as Miranda do Corvo, where I am the chairman of the municipal assembly, Penela, Poiares, Penacova and Soure, have been hit in devastating fashion.
In some regions of the country, the picture is disastrous; the majority of the population has been affected and economic stability has been undermined (the forest is of key importance to the local and regional economy). There is no doubt that the situation meets the exceptional conditions that Commissioner Hübner has deemed acceptable for mobilising the EU Solidarity Fund.
This summer, Spain, France and Greece have endured the same story, suffering similarly devastating effects. The fight against disasters must be made an EU priority.
Coming back to Portugal, in addition to the problem of the forest fires, we have the problem of the drought, which now affects 100% of mainland Portuguese territory: more than 80% of the country has suffered extreme drought and around 20% severe drought. It is horrendous.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Europe that we are building is first and foremost an area of solidarity; and that solidarity must be translated into action, even if the strict letter of the law does not quite match up to the hard reality that we are enduring. There is always more to life than can be covered in regulations."@en1
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