Mr President, the severe forest fires which broke out in Portugal this year also affected agricultural and urban areas, destroying houses, factories, schools, power grids, telephone networks and other installations. They caused the deaths of eighteen people, stripped families of their homes and possessions, killed game and livestock, and deprived about 45 000 people of their wages and income. This was an enormous disaster, one which has worsened Portugal’s already difficult socio-economic situation. That is why we asked the European Union for aid and support from the outset. According to recent estimates, more than 400 000 hectares have been consumed by the flames, the equivalent of 5% of our total land area and 11% of our woodland, with more than 80% of woodland areas destroyed in some municipalities, and damage estimated at more than EUR one billion. This situation calls for special aid measures, since the amount proposed by the Commission is clearly insufficient, as Commissioner Barnier rightly pointed out during his visit to Portugal. Over and above expressions of sympathy and solidarity with the victims’ families and everyone else affected by this catastrophe, over and above paying tribute to the courage of fire-fighters and the civilian population for their determined efforts to fight the fires despite the scant resources at their disposal, it is imperative that the sum provided by the European Union Solidarity Fund should at the very least equal the amount requested by the Portuguese Government, that is to say, more than EUR 52 million. The seriousness of the situation, however, calls for further extraordinary measures, through both reprogramming Structural Funds and through the various Community programmes currently in place, making the rigid fund allocation procedures more flexible and simpler. This is necessary not only in order to provide compensation for the social costs incurred but also to help restore productivity in the affected areas and to encourage reforestation. While it is true that forest fires constitute a yearly blight consuming hundreds of thousands of hectares in the European Union, especially in the south, it must be borne in mind that this year the atmospheric conditions which plagued Europe served to make matters worse, producing the right conditions for fires on a huge scale which were difficult to fight. This also means that more effective preventive measures must be encouraged at Community, national and local levels, and that more attention must be paid to public health in Europe. The common agricultural policy (CAP) itself has led to the disappearance of thousands of farms and farmers in recent years, especially in my country, and has thus contributed to the complete unravelling of the traditional reciprocal relationship between woodland and agricultural areas in regions where small-scale farming predominates, accelerating the process of desertification in the rural world. The CAP has thereby helped to produce the right conditions for large-scale fires to start. The changes to the CAP will tend to worsen this situation; this requires us to rethink the measures set in place. We call on the Commission to continue working with national authorities, both to minimise the environmental impact and to support the communities affected, but also to aid reforestation by supporting all the government aid initiatives and revising the Forest Focus programme to make its scope broader. We also urge the Commission to introduce an integrated Community fire-fighting strategy; furthermore, we would like to emphasise that this calamity testifies to the unreasonableness of the requirements of the Stability Pact given Portugal’s socio-economic circumstances, since, although the situation demands a high level of public investment, the Stability Pact imposes restrictions on such investment. We therefore appeal to the Commission and the Council to rethink the Stability Pact, and in particular to eliminate all public costs and investment stemming from this calamity forthwith when calculating the budget deficit.

Political group: GUE-NGL