Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, on 21 September, Toulouse was struck by a terrible disaster which, as Mrs Wallström said, claimed many victims – 29 people died and more than 2 000 people were injured – and considerable damage was caused to housing, schools, hospitals and universities. If I may, I would like to pay tribute to the victims and to express our sympathy and support to the injured, to their families and to all those affected by this disaster. What helps most in a disaster like this is other people expressing their solidarity. The people of Toulouse have been touched by the number and by the spontaneity of the messages that they have received from France and the European Union, from the Parliament and the Commission. As Deputy Mayor of Toulouse, I would like to give my sincere thanks to all those who have sent these messages to us. This disaster also compels us to consider a number of things. The first is the action the European Union can take to help these towns or regions affected by the catastrophe. The European Union budget used to include a heading for emergency aid to deal with these disasters, but this was withdrawn. I am today requesting that this instrument, which helped to put affected regions back on their feet, be re-introduced. Toulouse is a prime example of a European city with its aircraft and space industries and, in the last few days, I have heard many people asking, when they hear of aid being granted by various sources: ‘And what about Europe – what is Europe doing to help us?’ Since we constantly discuss bringing Europe closer to its people, one of the most obvious ways of doing this would be for Europe to help Europeans in their time of need. Situations such as that which Toulouse has recently experienced require the use of human resources, such as the fire services, first-aid workers, doctors, hospital and voluntary staff. Without going so far as to propose the utopia of a European civil protection force, I think that every effort should be made at European Union level, as Parliament recently requested, to enhance the coordination of civil protection expenditure. We must improve how the system works. For example, in the disaster in Toulouse, I would have been pleased to see the fire services and first-aid workers from other Member States supporting the remarkable work carried out by the Toulouse fire services. These are distressing circumstances, admittedly, but this would have done much to help Europe’s cause. We often talk of ‘zero risk’. The recent events, which have plunged the citizens of Toulouse and New York into mourning, show that this certainly cannot be achieved. What we can do, however, is to reduce the probability of risk by taking careful action. We must do this at a local level, at a national level, and we must ensure this is done at European level. I therefore call on the European Commission to take into account the lessons of the disaster in Toulouse when revising the Seveso II directive. Almost every day, many demonstrations take place in Toulouse, in which thousands of people take part, chanting ‘Never again, never again!’ I would like everyone in this House to respond to them with ‘Never again in Europe!’

Political group: PPE-DE