B4-1114, 1164 and 1179/95

Resolution on the disastrous fires in Greece in the summer of 1995

The European Parliament,

A.whereas forest fires in the Community, particularly in the Mediterranean Member States, continued to cause catastrophic economic and environmental damage during 1995,

B.whereas numerous fires in Greece burned down vast tracts in Lesbos, Pelion and especially in the villages of Argalasti, Thinovrisi and Sikki, in Ikaria, Rethymnon, Lasithi, Euboea, Messenia, Achaia, Halkidiki and elsewhere,

C.whereas the fire in the already environmentally stressed Attica region on 21-22 July 1995 devastated more than 5 000 hectares of valuable suburban forest, for the 4 million inhabitants of Attica and left many homeless,

D.whereas in Greece more land is destroyed by fire than in any other country in Europe,

E.deeply concerned at the conclusions drawn by the EC's STOA programme 'Forest fires in southern Europe' in November 1993 to the effect that the various Community measures designed to promote regional and rural development are not sufficiently coordinated and on occasion completely contradict the objective of preventing fires,

F.considers again that the lack of a common forestry policy is one of the main reasons for the ineffectiveness of Community and national measures to tackle the problems associated with forests, including fires,

1.Expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the inhabitants of the stricken areas and calls on the Commission to grant them emergency financial aid to repair the damage as quickly as possible;

2.Calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to ensure the adoption of a common forestry policy, alongside the CAP and other common policies, when the Treaty is revised in 1996;

3.Calls on the Commission to include in its planning policy, and especially the INTERREG programme, measures against fires;

4.Calls for the creation of a European Forest Policy Centre in which a special forest-protection and fire-extinction institute should operate;

5.Asks the Commission to provide information in response to its resolution of 29 September 1994 on forest fires in the countries of the south of the European Union, which called on the Commission to assess and report on the effectiveness of measures adopted by each Member State and by the EC itself to tackle forest fires;

6.Asks the Commission to provide information on implementation of the programme called for in its above-mentioned resolution on the training of local officers, focusing on fire-fighting methods and on practical information and guidelines for the general public so that, on the one hand, it can be included in the fire defence policy and, on the other hand, to avoid casualties;

7.Regrets the fact that the Commission has not yet acted on the requests made in Parliament's resolutions in recent years, particularly the above-mentioned resolution;

8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments of the Member States.