Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-13-Speech-1-140"
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"en.20060313.20.1-140"2
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"Mr President, I should like to start by thanking the European Parliament and, more importantly, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the rapporteur, Mr Papadimoulis, for the truly excellent report which we are debating today.
The objective of the Commission proposal to establish a rapid response and preparedness instrument for major emergencies is to safeguard a single financing framework for civil protection actions. These response and preparedness actions are currently covered by various financing instruments, such as the action programme or the Community civil protection mechanism.
However, what is even more important is the fact that the proposed financing instrument takes account of the calls by the European Parliament and of the Council for the strengthening of the response capacity in the civil protection sector in Europe. The basis for the further development of cooperation in the civil protection sector is through strengthening the work already carried out and through launching new actions.
Two innovations need to be highlighted here: firstly, we are proposing to finance the cost of moving assistance within the framework of civil protection. On numerous occasions we face situations in which the assistance was available but there were no means for moving it to the scene of the emergency. As a result the assistance was either not provided at all or was provided late. That is why the Commission is proposing that the European Commission be given the facility to hire the necessary means of transport either from third countries or from private companies.
There is a similar problem with civil protection equipment: in the case of emergencies which affect several European countries at once, such as forest fires in the summer or floods in spring or even simultaneous threats of terrorist action throughout Europe, the Member States may face difficulties in providing assistance to another Member State due to the need to address their own requirements. In such cases, the Community must be in a position to provide assistance to the Member States affected. Thus, the Commission is proposing to establish a backup financing network at Community level which will allow additional equipment to be hired.
Ambitious but necessary reforms, such as those we are debating today, obviously require important financial resources and, to quote Demosthenes, 'money is the root of everything'.
The Commission is certain that the European Parliament understands, as the report we are debating today illustrates, the importance of the benefit which derives from these reforms. Reinforced cooperation in the civil protection sector will result in better protection for the citizens of the European Union and the populations of third countries. This is the only way to ensure that the Community will be able to provide more coordinated, more effective and more prompt assistance to any country affected by a major emergency."@en1
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