WRITTEN QUESTION E-2624/03 by Michel-Ange Scarbonchi (GUE/NGL) to the Council. Establishment of a European civil protection corps.
Date: 2003-09-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Eurocorps, civil defence, fire protection, forest, man-made disaster, natural disaster

C 84 E/32

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

The EU is coordinating its diplomatic activities in particular with IGAD, within the IGAD Partner Forum,
the UN and the US according to its approach towards Sudan that all international actors should work
together in order to maximise the chances for a comprehensive peace agreement.

The Council believes that negotiating a comprehensive peace deal between the GoS and the SPLM/A is the
only way to stop the 20-year conflict. It will continue to accompany Sudan on the path of peace building,
respect of human rights, democracy and development.

(2004/C 84 E/0035)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2609/03

by Albert Maat (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 August 2003)

Subject: Products in respect of which payment of premiums is directly linked to per-hectare yield

The consequences of the persistent drought in Europe are becoming increasingly clear. As a result of the
drought, European agricultural yields are well below the annual average. In anticipation of the decoupling
scheduled for 2004 in respect of those products where payment of premiums is directly linked to per-
hectare yield (such as starch potatoes), is the Commission prepared to make payment of the premium not
dependent on per-hectare yield but to make payments on the basis of average harvests in previous years?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2003)

The reform of the common agricultural policy adopted by the Council in June 2003 will enter into force
in 2005.

Therefore, the specific provisions on decoupling, the detailed rules for the application of which are
currently being drawn up so that the Commission can adopt a decision in the near future, may not be
applied before then.

It should be pointed out that, with the exception of starch potatoes, all arable crops already qualify for per-
hectare aid decoupled from actual yield.

The Honourable Member’s suggestion to anticipate the decisions on decoupling in the case of starch
potatoes cannot be followed. On the one hand, farmers would receive higher premiums but on the other,
farmers with few or no historical reference amounts would be heavily penalised.

It should also be pointed out that the Commission proposed that the reform should apply from 2004.
However, the Council insisted on postponing it by one year, with the possibility of extending this to 2007.

(2004/C 84 E/0036)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2624/03

by Michel-Ange Scarbonchi (GUE/NGL) to the Council

Subject: Establishment of a European civil protection corps

(2 September 2003)

The fires which recently swept through Europe, destroying several thousand hectares of vegetation,
highlighted the chronic lack of forest fire prevention and control resources. The Commission must respond
to such disasters with the utmost urgency.

While the existence of a European civil protection centre in which the EU Member States plus Iceland,
Norway and Liechtenstein are involved and the setting up on 18 August 2002 of a European Solidarity
Fund are a cause for some hope, given the devastating impact which fires have on the communities and

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Official Journal of the European Union

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local councils concerned and the damage they cause to the environment and economic activities such as
forestry and tourism, fire-fighting resources need to be stepped up and new prevention and intervention
rules need to be laid down at European level.

The management of forests and other natural resources, which cover 60 million hectares in 25 countries
in the Mediterranean area, must remain an economic and social priority. The establishment of a European
civil protection corps would enable such disasters to be dealt with more effectively.

There are many arguments in favour of a new administrative and technical entity, which could be placed
under the supervision of the European Parliament and under the responsibility of the competent national
authorities, given that civil protection falls within the sphere of responsibility of the Member States.

In the run-up to the forthcoming enlargement, this would send out a strong signal in support of European
forests. What are the Council’s views on this proposal? Can it take action in support of the establishment
of a European civil protection corps?

Reply

(8 March 2004)

1.
The Council fully shares the regrets of the Honourable Parliamentarian about the large forest fires
that devastated tens of thousands of hectares of woodland in Spain, France and Italy, and especially in
Portugal, in summer 2003. To this extent, the Council notes that the fires gave rise to unprecedented
manifestations of concrete solidarity amongst the Member States.

As far as the setting up of a European civil protection corps for the purpose of forest protection, the

2.
Council recalls that it is in principle for the Member States to take appropriate measures.

Nevertheless at Community level, actions have been undertaken: First,

3.
in the framework of the
common agricultural policy the Council has adopted regulation 2158/92 in order to provide for a
Community contribution to the protection of forests against fire. Also, like the Honourable Parliamentar-
ian, the Council recognises the positive role of the Commission’s Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC)
established under the Council Decision on a Community Civil Protection Mechanism (1) in contributing to
mobilising the assets for these interventions. In that framework, the Member States have already identified
Civil Protection capabilities that may be provided on a case by case basis. These capabilities include
intervention teams and assessment coordination teams that are trained in common (2). Given the current
limitations of this centre in facing emergencies of exceptional magnitude, the Council welcomes the
Commission’s intention to further develop its capabilities for dealing with natural and technological
disasters and, in particular, to update the Mechanism’s database of civil protection resources regarding
available fire-fighting capabilities.

Finally, Parliament and Council have adopted a decision and an amending budget with a view to
(fires), an amount of EUR 48,539 million from the European
mobilising, for allocation to Portugal
Solidarity Fund.

In addition, the Commission is expected to submit, in the forthcoming months, a communication on a
common approach for the evaluation, prevention and consequence management of natural and man-made
risks.

As indicated above, work in the Council is being undertaken with a view to improving the present state of
play.

(1) Council Decision 2001/792 EC, Euratom of 23 October 2001 establishing a Community mechanism to facilitate

cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions, OJ L 297, 15.11.2001, p. 7.

(2) Docs 11625/03 PE-QE 336 and 5657/2/03 OE-HQ 24 REV 2.