Members of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) have an exchange of views on natural disasters throughout Europe this summer (floods, fires) in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Brussels

exchange of views

statement

meeting

natural disasters (T)

OMARJEE, Younous (The Left, FR)

Committee on Regional Development

fight against climate change (T)

Exchange of views on natural disasters throughout Europe this summer (floods, fires) in REGI committe: extracts

SOUNDBITE (French), Younous OMARJEE (The Left, FR), Chair REGI, In July, the increased floods hit Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Austria, and Romania, but Turkey as well. And they caused more than 300 deaths and billions of euros of damage.We all remember the unimaginable pictures of the earth and the land that just kind of crumbled in a steady city near Cologne. A huge damages occurred in Wallonia.

SOUNDBITE (French),YounousOMARJEE (The Left, FR), ChairREGI, Now, in addition to these floods, we had heatwaves and forest fires which just ravaged many places in southern Europe and Greece, Italy and France.

SOUNDBITE (French), Younous OMARJEE (The Left, FR), Chair REGI, In Greece,  there were 586 fires, and more than a hundred thousand hectares consumed by flames. 

SOUNDBITE (French),YounousOMARJEE (The Left, FR), ChairREGI, In Sicily and Calabria, we had to deal with five hundred fires starting up within four days alone with record high temperatures, which were unimaginable more than forty degrees. In the Var, in France, more than 7000 hectares of land were burned. In Spain, a huge fire of 90 kilometres ravaged 12000 hectares of plants and vegetation. And Finland went through the worst forest fire in their history.

SOUNDBITE (French), Younous OMARJEE (The Left, FR), Chair REGI, This is an emergency situation and the European Union must use all the solidarity instruments that they have to try to redress the situation in the regions and areas hit by these natural disasters. We need to use the FSUE and then, we're asking the commissioner to explore any other possibilities within the cohesion policy

SOUNDBITE (French), Younous OMARJEE (The Left, FR), Chair REGI, This is a major emergency and great deal of work on our plate in the FSEU for 2021 has been entirely used up for obvious reasons, which of course raises some serious questions for the future, and we're going to have to think as to how to modify the budget.

SOUNDBITE (English), Elisa FERREIRA, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Upon request from Belgium, from Germany, from Netherlands, the Commission activated the Copernicus's Emergency Management Service. Copernicus produces satellite maps in real time to support the damage assessment and to guide the emergency response. In addition, on the 14th of July, Belgium requested help through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism and within a few hours, seven member states offered their assistance.

SOUNDBITE (English), Elisa FERREIRA, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, As far as Greece is concerned, one thousand firefighters and rescuers, as well as planes and vehicles from across union were dispatched through the civil protection mechanism.

SOUNDBITE (English), Elisa FERREIRA, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Recent years, they have made it painfully clear that we must be more proactive in dealing with disaster. It is not enough to respond only after the crisis. We must improve our preparation before a crisis. This is why in cohesion policy, we are putting an increasing focus on resilience and prevention, on climate adaptation and on risk management before a crisis happens.

SOUNDBITE (French), Younous OMARJEE (The Left, FR), Chair REGI , Natural disasters have today become a permanent fact. And we have to integrate that fact even more today into European policies. Ofcourse for the implementation of European solidarity, but also to prevent and adapt to climate change.

SOUNDBITE (French), Younous OMARJEE (The Left, FR), Chair REGI , For the disaters of this summer our REGI committee supports the demands of from the different Member States to directly help the region face the challenges, which are above all, reconstruction, through FEDER notably. But much more has to be done because we are changing scale today. The diastares have become extremely frequent, no country is spared and it hits all sectors.