European Parliament resolution on forest fires and floods
Date: 2006-09-07
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: civil defence, climate change, fire, fire protection, flood, forest conservation, natural disaster

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Thursday 7 September 2006

P6_TA(2006)0349

Forest fires and floods

European Parliament resolution on forest fires and floods

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Articles 2, 6 and 174 of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to its resolution of 18 January 2006 on the outcome of the Montreal Conference on
climate change (1), its resolution of 5 September 2002 on floods in Europe (2), its resolution of 14 April
2005 on the drought in Portugal (3), its resolution of 12 May 2005 on the drought in Spain (4), its
resolution of 8 September 2005 on natural disasters (fires and floods) in Europe (5) and its resolutions
of 18 May 2006 on natural disasters (forest fires, droughts and floods) — agricultural aspects (6), regio-
nal development aspects (7) and environmental aspects (8),

— having regard to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) of 11 December 1997 and the Community's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on 31 May
2002,

— having regard to the ‘Forest Focus’ regulation, Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 of the European Parlia-

ment and of the Council of 17 November 2003 (9),

— having regard to the Commission's Communication of 18 November 1998 on a Forestry Strategy for
the European Union (COM(1998)0649) and to Parliament's resolution of 16 February 2006 on the
implementation of a European Union forestry strategy (10),

— having regard to the Commission proposal of 29 September 2004 for a regulation concerning the
(COM(2004)0621 and Parliament's position of
(LIFE+)

for the Environment

Instrument

Financial
7 July 2005 (11),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 concerning the European Agricultural Fund
for Rural Development (EAFRD) and Council Decision 2006/144/EC on Community strategic guidelines
for rural development,

— having regard to the Commission proposal for a Rapid Response and Preparedness Instrument for

major emergencies (COM(2005)0113),

— having regard to the Commission Communication on improving the Community Civil Protection
Mechanism (COM(2005)0137 and Michel Barnier's call for the creation of a European civil protection
force, to be called ‘Europe Aid’,

— having regard to the Commission proposal for establishing a European Union Solidarity Fund (COM

(2005)0108) and to Parliament's position of 18 May 2006 (12),

— having regard to the Commission Communication on a Biomass action plan (COM(2005)0628) and on

an EU Strategy for Biofuels (COM(2006)0034),

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0019.
(2) OJ C 272 E, 13.11.2003, p. 471.
(3) OJ C 33 E, 9.2.2006, p. 599.
(4) OJ C 92 E, 20.4.2006, p. 414.
(5) OJ C 193 E, 17.8.2006, p. 322.
(6) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0222.
(7) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0223.
(8) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0224.
(9) OJ L 324, 11.12.2003, p. 1.
(10) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0068.
(11) OJ C 157 E, 6.7.2006, p. 451.
(12) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0218.

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— having regard to its resolution of 15 June 2006 on the revised sustainable development strategy (1),

Thursday 7 September 2006

— having regard to point 12 of the Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 15 and

16 June 2006 concerning the Union's responsiveness to emergencies, crises and disasters,

— having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas in 2006 the European Union has suffered devastating forest fires, especially in the southern

Member States, which have caused fatalities and considerable material damage,

B. whereas the total area of vegetation and woodland affected by the fires in the EU is more than 200 000
hectares, half of it in Spain; whereas the other Member States affected include not only Portugal, Greece,
France, Italy and Cyprus, but also others traditionally considered less at risk, such as the Netherlands,
Ireland, Lithuania, the UK, Austria, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Poland,

C. whereas the forest fires were particularly severe in regions such as Galicia, where, by 14 August 2006,
88 473 hectares were affected, leading to 4 deaths, injuring 514 people, killing animals and causing
considerable material and ecological damage, including to 17 Sites of Community Importance (SCIs)
included in the Natura 2000 Network and other areas of ecological significance, some of which form
corridors for species between protected sites,

D. whereas in recent years persistent droughts and high temperatures have led to the proliferation of forest
fires in Europe and worsening desertification in many regions and have affected agriculture, stockbreed-
ing and the forest heritage,

E. whereas the European Environment Agency (EEA) has predicted that southern Europe will experience
increased drought stress, more frequent forest fires and increased heat stress, while northern Europe will
experience increased precipitation, and most regions of Europe will encounter increases in flood mag-
nitude and frequency, due to climate change,

F. whereas Europe's vulnerability to drought is increasingly due to unsustainable use of water, soil and
biological resources as well as to climate change, which also puts the European food supply at risk,

G. whereas these fires have partly been caused by the drought and high temperatures of summer 2006 as
well as the socio-economic and cultural changes that have occurred in recent decades in rural areas:
abandonment of rural areas, insufficient maintenance of forests, planting of insufficient varieties of trees
and a considerable incidence of criminal activity,

H. whereas the abandonment of rural areas, as well as a decrease in the profitability of forests and the high
cost of their maintenance, has affected good management by owners, with the consequence of an
increase in biomass in undergrowth and the appearance of large areas of highly combustible thicket,
while in those places where forests are socio-economically relevant, fires are significantly less prevalent,

I. whereas natural disasters have damaging economic and social consequences for regional economies,

productive activity and tourism,

J. whereas floods, in particular in Austria, Hungary and Poland, but also in other parts of Europe, have

caused serious damage to homes, infrastructure and agriculture,

K. whereas fires and floods are often transnational in nature and it is therefore necessary to reinforce the

joint measures for fighting natural disasters and the Community civil protection mechanisms,

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0272.

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L. whereas rural development policy will not suffice to tackle this problem, and the heading for aid to
farmers for creating and maintaining firebreaks has disappeared from the framework regulation for the
new European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD),

M. whereas the Brussels European Council of 15 and 16 June 2006 adopted the Presidency's report on
reinforcing the Union's response capacities in cases of emergency and crisis, and welcomed the report
presented by Michel Barnier in May 2006,

N. whereas, pursuant to the Presidency Conclusions of that Council, the Brussels-based ad hoc crisis steer-

ing group should be operative by 1 July 2006,

O. whereas Parliament plans to follow up its work on natural disasters, in particular its work since August

2005, with a public hearing on fires and floods, to be held in October 2006,

P. whereas there is no specific European legislation to tackle droughts and fires, although a directive on

the prevention of floods is being prepared,

Expresses its solidarity with the relatives of those who lost their lives and with residents in the affected
1.
areas, in particular Galicia, and thanks everyone — professionals and volunteers — who helped extinguish
fires and rescue people from floods;

Acknowledges the solidarity shown by the European Union, its Member States and other countries
2.
with the affected regions in both Member States and candidate countries and the praiseworthy help provided
to their authorities and rescue services; considers that the dimensions of these phenomena and their con-
sequences go beyond the regional and national scale and urgently call for an effective European commit-
ment;

3.
Is concerned at the growing number of disasters, something which, according to experts, may be
attributed largely to climate change; calls, accordingly, on the Member States to do what is necessary to
attain the Kyoto goals, and calls on the Commission to take initiatives to guarantee compliance with the
Kyoto commitments and the follow-up to them; believes that the damage caused by recent events further
emphasises that mitigation will be much less costly than the consequences of global warming;

Considers that its above mentioned resolution of 15 June 2006 contains key elements and principles

4.
to be taken into account and calls for the timely implementation of the strategy;

5.
Believes that global and regional preventive measures must play the key role, rather than damage
reparation; further notes that the damage caused by these natural disasters could have been partly prevented
and that this should provide an incentive for developing and implementing prevention policies and adequate
legislation on conservation and appropriate land use, including sustainable farm and forestry practices and
efficient risk management;

6.
Believes that such disasters can be handled efficiently only at Community level, subject to the subsi-
diarity principle: they call for an effective response at European level, with, if necessary, new Community
instruments for preventing and dealing with the problem;

7.
Asks the Commission to mobilise the European Union Solidarity Fund in a flexible fashion, facilitating
its implementation, in order to tackle serious damage caused by fires, bearing in mind that such damage
affects the way of life of the population, especially in the less prosperous regions that have to cope with
adverse effects on infrastructure, economic potential, employment, the natural and cultural heritage, the
environment and tourism, which in turn will badly affect economic and social cohesion;

8.
Calls for adequate resources to be allocated to civil protection against major emergencies and regrets
the Council's lukewarm response to the proposal for creating a European civil protection corps (the Barnier
report);

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9. Welcomes the Commission's proposals for improving the EU's rapid response capacity for major
emergencies;

Thursday 7 September 2006

Calls for better use of existing financial and technical resources and scientific improvements in the

10.
prevention of disasters and the alleviation of their consequences;

11.
Urges the adoption and the prompt implementation by the Member States of the proposed legislation
establishing a Community civil protection mechanism and concerning the assessment and management of
floods (the latter under codecision);

Calls on the Finnish Presidency-in-Office to pay particular attention to the development of the
12.
Union's rapid response capacity for major disasters and to the proposals made by the Commission and
Parliament for reinforcing the Community's civil protection capacity and to propose the adoption of the
relevant legal instruments by the end of 2006, in line with the mandate given by the European Council of
15 and 16 June 2006;

13.
Urges the Commission to create a programme for the exchange of experience of the implementation
of new technologies for controlling and following up the risks and effects of forest fires and to prepare a
European approval procedure for the qualifications of technical personnel, to improve their training;

Expresses its concern that the aims of the ‘Forest Focus’ regulation in the field of prevention have not
14.
been attained; notes that the number of fires and the areas which have been burned, rather than decreasing,
have increased since it entered into force; calls on the Commission to include specific proposals to solve
these problems in the report that it is to present before the end of 2006;

15.
Notes that, despite the fact that the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) has managed to
harmonise data on fires within Member States and to provide updated information on the natural risk
factors, it does not permit investigation of the anthropogenic origins, does not determine socioeconomic
risk factors and does not evaluate the repercussions of fires; calls on the Commission to submit a proposal
to supplement this system with other data that make it possible to correct these shortcomings;

16.
Urges the Commission to present, within the Action Plan on Biomass, concrete proposals for the
forests in southern Europe concerning the use of forest biomass for energy purposes, entailing a new source
of income for the owner and at the same time contributing to better management of forests;

17.
Calls on the Commission, in the new EU Action Plan for the sustainable management of forests, to
step up the European forest policy and give greater emphasis to the multiple functions of European agri-
culture, with a twofold aim: to maintain and provide employment for the rural population and to substan-
tially increase the mass of forests; calls likewise for support measures for fire prevention in silviculture to
help the owners and their organisations implement such activities as pollarding, non-commercial pruning,
slashing, clearing the forest biomass, creating control lines and fire breaks, building forest roads and depos-
iting water;

18.
Calls on the Commission to issue a Communication to make society aware of the value of our forests
and their resources and the benefits of their conservation, promoting the involvement of civil society
through organised volunteering or other methods, such as involving associations for the protection of
forests and natural areas;

19.
Calls on the Member States to strengthen penalties for criminal acts that damage the environment
and in particular those for causing forest fires, and believes that prompt and effective investigation that
determines responsibilities, followed by proportionate punishment, would discourage negligent and deliber-
ately criminal behaviour;

20.
Reiterates its call on the Commission to submit specific proposals for a directive on combating forest
fires and droughts in the Union, with a view to improving the coordination of Member States' policies and
optimising the existing Community instruments;

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21.
Calls on the Commission to undertake an in-depth analysis of the consequences and repercussions of
natural disasters, especially those affecting the Union's forests, including the impact on the Natura 2000
Network, and to submit proposals for the development of a Community policy for controlling forest fires
and for a joint protocol on preventing and combating such fires;

22.
Advocates a Community strategy for the coordination of fire prevention measures in the framework
of the rural development regulation; calls for a reforestation policy based on respect for bio-climatic and
environmental characteristics, using plant varieties that resist fire and drought better and are better adapted
to the climate;

Calls on the Commission to reintroduce aid to farmers for creating and maintaining firebreaks as

23.
part of the implementing rules for the new European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD);

24.
Considers that voluntary civil protection action should be promoted and supported without delay,
with basic training and equipment that might harness advanced technologies, since this is one of the major
resources available to the Member States when dealing with states of emergency arising from natural dis-
asters;

25.
Regrets that Russia neglected to cooperate with its neighbouring countries during its recent forest
fires; calls for the Commission to raise this issue in the framework of the EU-Russia Partnership and Coop-
eration Agreement;

Calls on its Bureau to authorise a delegation to the worst-affected areas ahead of the public hearing

26.
planned for October 2006, during which the Barnier report will be considered;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of

27.
the Member States and the regional authorities affected by the fires and floods.

P6_TA(2006)0350

Doha Development Agenda

European Parliament resolution on the suspension of negotiations on the Doha Development
Agenda

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Doha Ministerial Declaration of

the World Trade Organization (WTO) of

14 November 2001,

— having regard to its resolution of 4 April 2006 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the

WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong (1),

— having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference of the

WTO, adopted on 18 December 2005 (2),

— having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the Doha Round was launched in 2001 with the objectives of rectifying the existing imbal-
ances in the multilateral trading system in the common belief that only a multilateral system based on
fair trade and just and equitable rules could spur genuine development and of placing the needs and
interests of developing countries at the heart of the Doha Development Programme,

(1) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2006)0123.
(2) Document number 05-6248, document symbol WT/MIN(05)/DEC).