The heat wave affecting Europe is increasing the risk of fires. Several fires have affected the continent and its resources have already been activated. If Spain requires it, it can also implement it.
The heat wave hits Europe, and with it the danger of forest fires. The fires affect south of the continentin Croatia, Italy, Greece and neighboring countries.
Faced with this danger, the European Union has an emergency tool called the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. This mechanism, created in 2001, has three main aspects. Through its Member States, The Union has a fleet of 28 seaplanes and 4 helicopters.
The EU has allocated 600 million euros to the purchase of 12 water bomber aircraft, which will be available by the end of the decade. These aircraft will be distributed among six Member States.
The Union can also intervene on the ground. “More than 500 firefighters (are prepositioned) in four EU member states from southern Europe. These are France, Portugal, Spain and Greece. They can be called upon to assist local firefighters in case of need,” explains Balazs Ujvari, spokesperson for the European Commission.
Finally, Member States can also use satellite images from the Copernicus system, the European Earth observation programme. This tool was activated 25 times in 2023 for wildfires around the world.
To obtain this assistance, national authorities can contact the Emergency Response Coordination Center in Brussels 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The countries transmit their requests and needs, which are sent to the different capitals.
“So we try to act as quickly as possible, which can take a few hours, sometimes a little more, to sometimes even a few minutes“, emphasizes Balazs Ujvari.
Prevent before suffering
Although fire prevention is the responsibility of Member States, the EU has introduced a action plan for 2022. The objective is improve administrative capacity and knowledge, and increase investment to anticipate forest fires.
The EU is also launching a method to evaluate national prevention systems and facilitate the exchange of best practices between the 27 Member States.
In 2022, forest fires destroyed almost 900,000 hectares of land in the EU, according to a report published by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre. However, 2023 was a record year, with the largest fire in Europe and one of the worst forest fire seasons ever recorded in the Union.
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism is also not limited to the borders of Member States. “We are in solidarity with everyone. So anyone can ask for help,” insists Balazs Ujvari. Last year, the Union intervened in Chile, Canada and Tunisia. Last month, Albania asked the EU for help.
The Civil Protection Mechanism was activated 10 times last year. In the middle of summer, had resorted to the Mechanism five times.
