Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-13-Speech-1-048"
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"en.20040913.4.1-048"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, every year around this time, as we have just seen, another debate is held on the subject of forest fires.
Fortunately, and even though the effects of fires continue to be too serious and disastrous, the fires which have affected, in particular, the southern Member States of the EU this year have been less fierce, and there has been no summer heatwave causing thousands of deaths.
In 2002, the European Union set up a Solidarity Fund intended to deal with natural disasters of this kind and their consequences for our peoples. Last year, this Fund helped to deal with the aftermath of the fires in southern Europe. In late 2003, the Forest Focus Regulation was adopted, but it was allocated only EUR 9 million of funding for the 2003-2006 period, which is not enough to prevent fires. In the long run, there are plans for cofinancing via the common agricultural policy and the rural development fund, which means a partial withdrawal from the EU’s forestry policy. What image of solidarity do we wish to present to our fellow citizens, especially those from the South?
A further problem facing us is the role of forests in the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. Not only do forest fires contribute to climate change as a result of massive CO2 emissions, they also gradually reduce the size of our forests and the Union’s carbon sink capacities.
We continue, and rightly so, to express our dismay at the fires and other natural disasters which have affected all of Europe over the past few years. We cannot, however, show our solidarity with words alone. Words are never enough. Action is necessary and must be taken to greatly reduce the scale of forest fires and of other natural disasters.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a matter of urgency: we must reduce these disasters and show our solidarity."@en1
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