Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, the floods that hit Central Europe this August reached alarming proportions. They claimed numerous lives and inflicted massive physical damage. Entire regions and cities were devastated, and entire rural areas and cultural heritage monuments sustained severe damage. The extent of the destruction triggered a great wave of sympathy across Europe, and the desire to be able to provide assistance, also at EU level, to the countries concerned in mastering the countless problems they face quickly became apparent. Commissioner, the local populations gratefully recall that only days after the disaster occurred, you and Mr Prodi, the President of the Commission, visited the regions affected to see the extent of the damage for yourselves. However, they were not only grateful, they were also hopeful. Your visit raised their hopes that in such a case, the EU would intervene. Until now, there have been no suitable instruments for this purpose at Community level, for as we know, an EU relief fund once existed, but was discontinued in 1998. As the rapporteur, I view the establishment of this new solidarity instrument as an important complement to the Structural Funds. It equips the EU with a flexible instrument with which to cut through red tape, which enables us to provide rapid on-the-spot assistance when disasters occur. The purpose of the Fund – which will be focused on immediate financial assistance – is to help the people, regions and countries return to normal living conditions as quickly as possible. Its scope will therefore be limited to the most urgent needs. The long-term reconstruction of infrastructures and businesses must be left to other instruments, and this EU aid will add to, not replace, the efforts of the countries concerned. The EUR 1 billion designated for this fund are 'floating': in other words, they are not earmarked for a specific budget line, but will be mobilised only when a disaster occurs. The Commissioner has rightly asked the question: What kind of disaster can this Fund be used for? By defining a major disaster as any disaster resulting in damage estimated at over EUR 1 billion or more than 0.5% of GDP, this should ensure that claims on the fund are restricted to very exceptional damage. That is why the committee agreed, by a majority, on a definition that refers to 'major disasters'. We have deliberately refrained from making any reference to natural, environmental, or technological disasters. After all, what would we say to the people concerned if the European Union were hit by a disaster such as 11 September in New York, on a scale which claimed a similar numbers of casualties? Faced with this scenario, we cannot say to people: Sorry, the EU is unable to help because this is not a natural disaster! We should stick with the term 'major disasters' as well as the three-month deadline for the submission of applications for assistance from the Fund, as this is in line with the principles of urgency and immediate rapid assistance which underpin the Fund. As regards the availability of the financial resources granted, in my capacity as rapporteur of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism, which is the committee responsible, I call for a timeframe of two years so that the Fund can provide aid to restore immediately key infrastructures such as energy, water supply and treatment, communication, transport, health and education. The funds should also be used to provide auxiliary services, as well as to safeguard security infrastructures, take immediate measures to protect cultural heritage and clean up damaged natural areas, buildings and cities, and carry out emergency short-term repairs to dams. The stipulation that this grant must leave available 25% of the annual amount of EUR 1 billion allocated to the Fund up to 1 October each year in order to respond to disasters possibly occurring late on in the calendar year is supported by the committee responsible. Although the parliamentary procedure for the preparation and debate of this report is not without its problems due to the very tight timetable, I believe that the accelerated procedure adopted in this instance due to its particular urgency, with the aim of disbursing EUR 1 billion in November, if at all possible, is acceptable in this exceptional case. I think we should proceed as swiftly as possible. The people affected are waiting for assistance from the European Union. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE