Debate: Recent heat wave and drought in the EU
Date: THURSDAY, 7 JULY 2022
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

The tragic event in Marmolada is just the latest example of the disastrous risks linked to warmer temperatures and thus to climate change. The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre is monitoring the situation and stands ready to coordinate EU assistance if needed by the Italian authorities.  As you probably heard, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service – these are our Earth observation satellites operated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre – provide information for emergency response for different natural hazards like floods, wildfires and droughts. And its statistics show that since 2017, we have witnessed the most intense forest fires ever seen in Europe and that we unfortunately expect that the 2022 forest-fire season could follow this trend. Similarly, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service indicates that the present drought in Europe could become the worst ever.  If we are looking at the situation of the past years, we have been doing our utmost to learn from these experiences and therefore the Commission has built an effective and flexible disaster response capacity under the Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.  However, emergency support and response alone are not enough. Climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness are paramount. And this is true for Europe as well as for the rest of the world. So let’s take the example of forest fires.  In the context of the European Green Deal we strive to make our forests more biodiverse and more resilient. This is key to making forests less vulnerable to fire risk and it is an example of how, by working with nature and not against it, we can strengthen prevention and reduce disaster risk.  In parallel, we work on preparedness. Under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism this year, we financed by more than EUR 40 million to support the rescEU fleet capacities with 10 Canadairs, one helicopter and two air tractors. And we are planning to purchase 12 additional aircraft under rescEU.  When national capacities are overwhelmed, rescEU is ready to step in to provide additional support to confront disasters in Europe and this year, for the very first time in the EU’s history, the Commission is financing the pre-positioning of 204 firefighters and ground vehicles from Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Norway and Romania to Greece during July and August. The first teams already arrived last week.  This is truly European solidarity in action and a perfect example of disaster preparedness. And we will not stop there. The Commission will strengthen its anticipation and foresight capacity. We will prepare disaster resilience goals, taking into account different risks and potential disaster scenarios. And one of these scenarios assesses the need to face heatwaves.  It is the EU’s commitment if a disaster strikes, to respond and to deliver assistance in a spirit of solidarity both at home and abroad. Through the Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism we pool our resources together and we provide a stronger and more coherent, collective response, wherever the needs are.  And we continue providing our support also after a disaster through the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF), in coordination with other EU funds. Through the latest amendment to the EU Solidarity Fund Regulation, the threshold for the advances related to individual applications has been increased from 10% to a maximum 25% of the amount of the financial contribution, or at the maximum amount of EUR 100 million from the previous agreed sum of EUR 30 million.  This provision is a crucial improvement in facilitating the rapid disbursement of EUSF assistance in the form of a meaningful advance. The overall objective is to provide support in the aftermath of disasters but also to place the seeds for future better resilience.