Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I too believe it my duty to begin by expressing my appreciation and gratitude to Commissioner Barnier for the way he behaved during the tragic events which occurred in Portugal. He was the very image of distress and understanding, saying the words the Portuguese people wanted to hear and appreciated, and which other officials were not always able to put as well as he did. As the Commissioner said, the end of our summer holidays has left a bitter taste, after a tragic summer, with its tragic tally of deaths and devastating forest fires. Thousands of elderly people have died as a result of the heat in various European countries and ozone peaks may have claimed many more victims. Was this an inevitable climatic event or could we be suffering the consequences of climate change caused by human behaviour? Was this the result of humanity’s own thoughtlessness? The answer must be both of those factors. Mr President, Commissioner, the area of woodland destroyed in Portugal, as we have already heard here today, is as much as 400 000 hectares, which is more than all the woodland destroyed by fire in the rest of southern Europe put together. This gives us food for thought. How can Portugal, a relatively small country, have forest fires on this scale? Are the Portuguese fire-worshippers, perhaps? Some have written that we are, because of our love of bonfires on Saint John’s Eve, and of firework parties. I doubt it, however. The explanation for the incredible events which unfolded in Portugal this summer can be found to a large extent in the serious mistakes and omissions of the authorities. The fires brought to light the weaknesses of a disorganised and irrational forestry system such as we have in Portugal. Over the last few decades, Portuguese woodland has been chaotically managed, as the Commissioner has already said here. One third of Portugal’s land area of 90 000 square kilometres is given over to woodland. Most of that woodland — two thirds — is made up of pines, used only in construction. The rest is eucalyptus for producing wood pulp for paper, and also that extraordinary tree, the cork oak. Each tree, each vegetable species in the Mediterranean has, over many millennia, evolved strategies to protect itself and recover from fire. The problem is that the woodland is becoming more impoverished by the year, either turning into scrub or becoming dominated by conifers, more flammable than slower-growing hardwood forest made up of trees such as oaks and cork oaks. Soil erosion does the rest, and desertification continues. Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Solidarity Fund was born of water but applied to fire. It brings to mind the two original Greek elements of Thales and Heraclitus. Born of water, applied to fire, but applied sparingly, as we have heard. The funds at our disposal are very slender, Commissioner. I feel the amount should be reconsidered because, being a palliative measure, it must increase, given the huge budgetary difficulties currently faced by the Portuguese state. I believe that the reallocation of the Structural Funds suggested by the Commissioner is a good solution to the problem of financing the reforestation and reordering of Portugal’s plant cover. We therefore agree that funds should indeed be reallocated. Swift action is needed in Portugal before this shock is forgotten, and this applies to the rest of Europe too. Prevention is the keyword and the golden rule in protecting woodland, as several people have already said here today. So, however, is the surveillance and policing of our woodlands, as well as heavy penalties for the criminal acts of those who deliberately and intentionally set fire to them. The State must take on a new role in reordering and reorganising Portuguese woodlands, as well as in addressing today’s climate-related problems throughout Europe. Climate change is a grave threat indeed, and steps must be taken immediately.

Political group: PSE