Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are now dealing with the second reading of Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on the protection of forests against fire and Regulation (EEC) No 3582/86 on the protection of forests against atmospheric pollution. This latter Regulation, which established a framework for the observation, assessment and monitoring of damage to European forests, provided for a network of observation points, carrying out a periodic inventory of damage and publishing an annual report, as well as an additional network for the monitoring and control of the pilot demonstration projects. The general tendency we have seen is an increase in the deterioration of non-coniferous species such as oak and beech and intense defoliation owing to the seriousness of atmospheric pollution, essentially in Central Europe, which also increases the acidity of the soil. Atmospheric deposits cause serious concentrations of nitrates in the soil and increase the risk of drinking water pollution, thereby threatening the role played by forest soils in the filtration of water resources. The budget for this Regulation in the Commission’s proposal is reduced from EUR 40 million for the first five-year period to EUR 34 million for the second five-year period, from 1997 to 2001. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy is once again proposing an increase in the budgetary contribution to EUR 44 million, in line with the increase in forested area and the cost of living. There is no doubt about the usefulness of the programme and the monitoring networks, and to strengthen them would mean a huge increase in the service which the forests offer to European society as a whole. With regard to Regulation (EEC) No 2158 on the protection of forests against fire, an action framework was established to reduce the number of fires and the surface area affected by them, providing for the co-funding of fundamentally preventive actions. In particular, these include the creation of protection infrastructures, such as firebreaks, forest tracks, water points, etc., as well as an improvement in systems for monitoring and identifying the causes of fires. Article 10 of this Regulation provides for a contribution of EUR 70 million for the period 1992-1995, whereas the proposal presented for 1997-2001 considers that EUR 50 million is sufficient. In other words, EUR 10 million per year. As well as contradicting the Council’s recommendations to the Commission in points 5 and 6 of the forestry strategy for the European Union on the possibility of improving Community measures for forest protection, this reduction goes against common sense, given that since 1995, the date of the last enlargement, the forested area has increased from 21% to 36% of the total Community area, and I fail to see the balance in having more forest to protect and less money to protect it. The amendments therefore propose increasing the budget to EUR 77 million, which I believe to be fully justifiable, and which we must not give up on under any circumstances, since at stake is the protection of the landscape, of nature, of biodiversity, of traditional cultures and multifunctional activities and, at the end of the day, of what we see when we close our eyes and think of forests. In Europe, 60 million hectares are stated to be at risk of fire. The Commission’s proposal suggests EUR 0.16 per hectare. Parliament is requesting EUR 0.23 per hectare. The difference is EUR 0.07 per hectare. Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about peanuts in relation to the protection of our forests, and we are being refused even this amount. There is a special mention in the report, which I do not want to leave out, of the Mediterranean forests which are much more seriously affected by fire, since they are located in hot areas, with long periods of drought, and are also seriously affected by desertification. We must pay special attention to this issue in order to adequately weigh up the different actions relating to the forests: prevention, improvement, conservation and the restoration of burnt areas and forestation. I therefore ask the Commission to declare its acceptance of these arguments in the coming proposals so that the Members of this Parliament can accept this report at this second reading.

Political group: PPE-DE