During the plenary session (26-29 April 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on Union Civil Protection Mechanism: opening statements by Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), rapporteur, and by Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Brussels

statement

debate

plenary session

GABRIEL, Mariya (EPP, BG, EC)

civil protection mechanism (T)

ANDROULAKIS, Nikos (S&D, EL)

Union Civil Protection Mechanism: opening statements by Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), rapporteur and by Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&amp;D, EL), Rapporteur, Thank you very much for giving me the floor, for allowing me to talk about the negotiations on the union's civil protection mechanism. We mustn't forget that the beginning of the pandemic, this mechanism saved Europe's honour in the first initial weeks. This mechanism made it possible to repatriate many European citizens from the beginning of March.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, Decisions were taken so that as part of rescue, there would be a European stockpile of not just masks and PPE, but also of vaccines and medications in the future, this reserve has already been in place for a year and has now been strengthened with nine bases in Europe, many member states needed it. So this mechanism has helped us deal with the pandemic in Europe. But it is also a tool that show solidarity towards third countries, as we saw yesterday with India despite that contribution.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, However, there are weaknesses with this mechanism. Up until a year ago, this mechanism dealt with natural disasters such as earthquakes and forest fires. We've seen that there have been health crises before, but never one of this scale. This pandemic has shown that we weren't ready. We have therefore asked for a tripling of the budget. In comparison to the initial proposal, President Michel initially said that the 2021 2027 period would only have a one billion budget.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, But this situation has shown we need more. So, based on our agreement, this mechanism will now have three point one billion euros available, of which two billion euros will come from the recovery fund so that all the necessary investments can take place. And so that needs can be Covid. We, as the European Parliament, have also insisted that we need to check how the money is disbursed.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, 85 percent for the preparation, 15 percent for the crisis and prevention as regards prevention above and beyond the doubling of the fund. We have also established a reserve so that the member states are better prepared. For instance, we have included water and stability in the plans, following on from droughts and floods. We've asked the European Commission to establish a list of disasters which could have cross-border effects.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, We've also done a mapping. We've also asked for a mapping exercise so that forces can be deployed easily in. Border regions, when there is a danger which could spread across a country if, for instance, a forest fire breaks out or if a river burst its banks. We've also asked for the establishment of a database so as to protect cultural heritage and national heritage in the event of a disaster.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, We have also asked for European resilience growth to be established. What should kick in if there is a disaster? As part of rescue, the European Commission can. By what it needs itself. And if there is a forest fire, that would. Will be a different approach, 100 percent of firefighting equipment and firefighting forces would be covered by the union's budget, not 80 or 90 percent, as was the case in the past.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, The European Parliament will also be involved in important decisions when it manages the budget. We want to bring greater transparency to the table that I want to thank the shadow rapporteurs, the secretariat and everyone who worked with me. That, of course, includes Commissioner Lenarcic. All those involved have really made a concerted effort, has, as has the Portuguese presidency of the council, which showed great flexibility, all of that made it possible to achieve this good outcome.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, The pandemic has speed things up, though. Our weaknesses, our internal weaknesses have been revealed once again. As we saw during the time of the financial crisis and world events threaten our geopolitical role, so we need to reverse that trend by conservative forces can be an obstacle to the great leap forward we need. So that's why those who believe in Europe and the union of the people need to be united and we need to work together.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), Rapporteur, The only antidote to this difficult situation is to take several steps, four steps forward in the right direction, looking to the future. That's why I ask you to support rescue. Rescue is one of those symbolic steps, one of those steps that is symbolic of the EU, of the equality, peace and prosperity which we're striving for.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Thank you, President. Commissioner, unfortunately could not join today's final debate on the Commission's proposal to strengthen the union's civil protection mechanism, but he asked me to convey to you his apologies and to deliver a few remarks on his behalf, starting by thanking in particular the Rapporteur Androulakis and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety for their strong support and contribution to a swift conclusion of the negotiations last year at the start of the covid-19 pandemic.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Member states requests for assistance under the Union civil protection mechanism when fully or partially unanswered. This painfully demonstrated the need to rethink and improve response in the context of crisis, such as the current pandemic, namely crisis, which simultaneously affect many or all member states.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, We are therefore grateful that with the strong commitment of the European Parliament, we could reach in record time of only eight months of political agreement on the commission's proposal to strengthen the European Civil Protection Mechanism with targeted adjustments to the existing legal framework and with the substantial budget increase, will be better prepared and be more flexible to support member states in addressing not only the current pandemic but also any future large scale crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, I wish to make three brief points on the key elements of the new legislation. First, we need to invest in the resilience of our societies and for this it is essential to enhance disaster risk management and planning, in particular for crises that cross borders and impact different sectors. As a new element of the legislation, the union disaster resilience goals will provide a stronger evidence base to guide our prevention and preparedness measures and thus offer a more strategic steer.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Second, we need to be able to support member states with additional response capacities that in emergency situations could be directly procured by the commission. This includes additional rescue capacities in the field of transport and logistics, which have proven to be a major bottleneck at the outset of the current covid-19 pandemic to serve as an additional safety net. The Commission is now also able to step in and directly procure other EU capacities if resources are available at national level are not sufficient in times of overwhelming crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Third, with the next generation European funding, the Union's civil protection mechanism will receive a significant budget increase and budget implementation will become more flexible. This will allow us to continue to grow the EU medical stockpile and invest in other capacities to further increase our readiness to respond to the covid-19 pandemic.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, But the reinforced union's civil protection mechanism also presents us with the great opportunity to strengthen our preparedness for future crises other than covid-19 by investing in reinforced capacities to deal with forest fires as well as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear disasters.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Taking into account lessons learnt and shortcomings identified through the current crisis will jointly continue to pursue the same main objective to improve Europe's resilience by increasing our operational capacity to respond effectively to different type of climate crises. And that, I fear, are unavoidable also in the future. Thank you.