Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-17-Speech-4-224"
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"en.20010517.11.4-224"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, may I start by saying that this debate is of particular interest to me because I myself live in Abbeville, the town at the heart of the area affected. The floodwaters are abating very slowly, as you have heard and, as I speak, 140
are still affected, with nearly 3 500 homes under water. The floods have caused huge damage – estimated at several hundred million euros. Houses are subsiding. Numerous infrastructures have been damaged or destroyed, companies have lost and must replace their means of production, not to mention the damage to the countryside itself. At local level, solidarity has been in evidence for a long time, providing humanitarian, food and material aid, but what the region needs most now is money. It is because I really am close to the ground and have been directly affected by this disaster that I called for European solidarity in Brussels on 2 May. Madam President gave me a positive reply and I thank her for that. I should also like to take the opportunity to thank the honourable Members who finally rallied to this initiative.
For my part, I have asked the prefect of the region to allow me to help with any changes to the single programming document for the Structural Funds in Picardie, so as to find a suitable response to the problems encountered. I expect the same on the part of Europe: an urgent and, more importantly, a specific response to this disaster. This initiative should not – I repeat should not – be a simple declaration of intent. It should be backed as quickly as possible by practical decisions and tangible action.
Consequently, I am delighted that the Commission, in collaboration with the local authorities, has authorised changes to the zoning of the Structural Funds so that appropriations can be channelled to all sectors of activity and to all the
flooded. At the same time, I hope that it will speed up payment of these appropriations, which should normally be staggered up to 2006.
In addition, one-off financial aid should be released by the European Union, to complement local, regional and national aid and meet the most urgent demands. Finally, measures should also be taken to fight the consequences of climatic change. The international commitments made in Kyoto should be respected by all countries without exception and I trust that the conference to be held in Bonn in July will be where this happens. That is the purpose of my amendment."@en1
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