B3-1565, 1583, 1604, 1610, and 1633/93

Resolution on the floods in Corsica

The European Parliament,

A.having regard to the exceptional nature of the serious floods in Corsica during the first week of November, which caused loss of life and considerable damage,

B.whereas the initial assessment indicates that several people lost their lives and a number are still missing, communities deprived of water and electricity supplies have had to be evacuated, communication routes have been cut and crops have been devastated,

C.whereas some families have lost everything; whereas the local authorities are faced with damage to the public highways which in some cases is ten to twenty times in excess of their budgets,

D.whereas the French state has quite rightly launched the ORSEC emergency plan and has initiated the procedure for declaring Corsica a disaster zone,

1.Offers its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and expresses its sympathy with the families affected;

2.Calls on the Community institutions to work together with the French Government in assessing and supplying the requisite aid;

3.Calls, therefore, on the Commission to release the supplementary appropriations pursuant to the Structural Funds for the Objective 1 regions (ERDF, ESF, EAGGF) with a view to granting aid to individuals and farmers affected and financial support for reconstruction, in particular communications systems;

4.Calls on the Community authorities to draw up a programme to study effective measures to be taken to avoid and limit the dramatic consequences of natural disasters, including an evaluation of the areas at risk and rules on activities in such areas;

5.Calls on the Commission to inform Parliament of the purposes for which the emergency aid is used;

6.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the President of the Executive of the Territorial Assembly of Corsica and the presidents of the departmental councils in Corsica.