In this context, EU ministers discussed strengthening prevention, preparedness and immediate response, both at national level and mainly through the European Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) and rescEU.
The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, participated today in the extraordinary meeting of ministers of the European Union, aimed at strengthening the response of the European Civil Protection Mechanism / rescEU to forest fires. The meeting, which took place in Brussels, is an initiative of the European Commission and the responsible Commissioner, Janez Lenarčič, in collaboration with the current Czech presidency of the Council of Ministers, since, as the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection emphasizes in its announcement, the catastrophic fires that have affected many countries in Europe this year and the increasingly adverse effects of the climate crisis make it necessary to take immediate joint European action.
It is now clear, as underlined in the context of the meeting, that a holistic approach is required in dealing with the unprecedented natural disasters that Europe is called upon to face.
In this context, EU ministers discussed strengthening prevention, preparedness and immediate response, both at national level and mainly through the European Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) and rescEU.
Particular emphasis was placed on enhancing funding for greater availability of air assets of the rescEU transitional air fleet for the years 2023 and 2024, while ways to accelerate the development of the rescEU permanent fleet were considered.
As the Ministry of Climate Crisis reports, “in the context of his intervention, Mr. Stylianidis presented the new ‘doctrine’ that our country successfully applied this summer, at the core of which is the combination of targeted preventive actions (e.g. extensive clean-ups of fuel, opening fire zones and forest roads and improving coordination between the relevant agencies), with actions to enhance readiness/preparation, such as strengthening ground and aerial forest firefighting forces, increased ground patrols and aerial surveillance, which increase the effectiveness of prevention actions”.
According to the announcement, Mr. Stylianides called on Europe to promote this combination of prevention – preparedness – immediate response, through the substantial strengthening of the European Mechanism and rescEU, supporting the European Commission’s proposal to increase the available aerial means of forest firefighting. At the same time, as the ministry underlines, “Greece supports the increase in the development of these aerial means in more member states and the strengthening of their operational capabilities beyond the Mediterranean countries that are traditionally more affected by forest fires, as climate change it now affects countries that rarely faced similar phenomena in the past, as happened this year in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany”.
The European Commission, for its part, agreed with the Greek proposal for European funding for preventive actions in forest management and the strengthening of tools, such as volunteerism and early warning systems.
“Europe needs a truly European air fleet”, the minister emphasized, presenting concrete proposals for the operational reinforcement of rescEU in its current, transitional phase, while also expressing our country’s support in accelerating the procurement procedures of the necessary air assets for the creation of the rescEU permanent fleet, with an implementation horizon of 2025.
Citing also “the success achieved this year by the first pilot program for the pre-installation of European firefighters in our country for the two months of July-August”, the minister expressed his support for the European Commission’s proposal to strengthen the program from 2023, while he raised the extension of the flood response program and the exchange of know-how between European firefighters and in the specific subject.
He warmly thanked, on the occasion of the meeting, both the European Commission for its support, and the countries that took part in the program by organizing the respective missions (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Norway, Romania and Finland). In addition, as the ministry notes, “all member states, in addition to those that participated, emphasized the great success of the program and agreed to further strengthen it with European financial tools and means.”
This extraordinary meeting of EU ministers, which had an informal character, “constitutes a first step for taking concrete decisions in the immediate future, with the aim of substantially strengthening European solidarity against natural disasters and shielding the whole of Europe against the effects of climate crisis” notes the ministry.
RES-EMP
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