Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-04-Speech-1-129"
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"en.20060904.20.1-129"2
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"Mr President, the Commission is here today to attend this debate in the European Parliament on the initiative of my group and I would therefore like to begin by thanking the other groups that have supported this initiative, thereby making it possible for us to hold this debate today. I would, of course, also like to thank the Commissioner for being here and above all for his work and commitment in this field.
Nevertheless, certain Members have told us quite legitimately that we are doing the same as we did a year ago, that we are in the same situation as last summer. I would like to respond to them by saying that that is not true: it is true that we debated fires in September last year as well; it is true that we visited the areas affected together with some of our fellow Members who are here today – and not without difficulties created by certain bodies in this House, incidentally; and it is true that we held a hearing in which victims’ families were able to express themselves in an emotional manner to all of us, but we are not in the same situation, because, since then, the European Parliament has presented clear and concrete initiatives and proposals to the Council.
For example, within the framework of the Berend report, this House approved a raft of amendments aimed at updating the European Union’s Solidarity Fund. We have also asked the European Commission for a specific directive on fires and on drought, since there is a directive on floods, and we have asked the Council for a committed response to the report by former Commissioner Barnier, which was presented at the last European Council, as everybody knows.
We are not, therefore, and nor should we be, in the same situation as a year ago. We have a package of proposals which should make us much more effective in combating fires. What we have not had is a reaction from the Council, and that fact can be attributed as much to the Presidencies we have had this year, which have done practically nothing, as to those Member States most affected that have not asked for anything. Certain competent public authorities use the drought, or the deliberately caused fires, as an excuse for this failure. It is true that there is drought and it is true that there are criminals, as there have been in the past, but we should be asking those authorities what they have done this year in the field of prevention and whether, when the inevitable has happened, there has been proper coordination inside and outside of their borders.
For example, the Commissioner referred to the most significant fire of this summer: the one that took place in Galicia. I would like to ask you when you formally received the request for assistance from the Spanish Government, and on precisely what date you were formally asked to activate the civil protection mechanism.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are simply asking for more prevention and more coordination. We are not talking about inventing resources or funds that do not exist. We are simply asking that the European Union’s Solidarity Fund be applied, which would have been much easier, by the way, if the European Parliament’s proposals had been taken into account. Nor are we asking for greater powers for the European Union, but rather for more planning and more coordination while fully respecting the principle of subsidiarity. Let us see whether, while helping those who most need it now, we can ensure that we do not have to repeat this debate next year."@en1
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