Commission shirks responsibilities and points out the state’s role in the fires
AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou press release
14th September 2021
“Under Article 196 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), competence in the field of civil protection lies primarily with the member states….. The rescEU capacities complement existing national capacities without replacing them.” This was underlined by the European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, in a letter sent to AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou.
This statement was sent in response to the AKEL MEP, who raised before the Commission, under the urgency procedure, the dramatic situation in Cyprus as a result of the adverse effects of the fires. Giorgos Georgiou pointed out the serious understaffing of the Forestry Department and the lack of appropriate equipment, calling for the immediate formation of a European airborne firefighting base, within the framework of rescEU, for the benefit of both the Republic of Cyprus and the countries of the region.
In his reply, European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič was content to say that as far as rescEU aerial forest firefighting capabilities are concerned, the Commission supports the acquisition of additional amphibious firefighting aircraft by member states, which will serve as a reserve capacity for the benefit of all member states prone to forest fires. Furthermore, he clarified that the geographical location of the future capacities would be decided in close coordination with member states’ experts, taking into account the rapid availability of the aircraft in other member states.
As the Commissioner argued, the “transitional rescEU” has ensured rapid access to existing national aerial firefighting aircraft during forest fire seasons since 2019 and in this context, the rescEU capacity hosted by Greece successfully provided support to firefighting operations on 4 July 2021 in the Arakapa region, following a request from Cyprus to the Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
Responding today to the European Commissioner, AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou, before the plenary of the European Parliament, during the debate on natural disasters in the EU, pointed out that, as it has been proven in practice, the RescEU mechanism not only cannot respond adequately, but perpetuates the shortcomings of EU countries by recycling scarce resources. He stressed that during the recent fires in Cyprus, there was no rapid response, as there were huge shortages of fire-fighting equipment, infrastructures and personnel both in the country and in other member states.
AKEL MEP G.Georgiou underlined that the austerity policies being pursued are proving to be disastrous once again. He called for the immediate strengthening of the means of solidarity and for all the necessary measures to be taken so that substantial support is provided to those affected.
However, as states are primarily responsible for civil protection, the Cypriot Government must provide financial support to those affected, reopen the Forestry College, reinforce the state services with forest firefighters, personnel, machinery, fire engines and aircraft, as well as provide communities with fire engines and ensure that those responsible for their use are trained in their use.
