Activities of Christine DE VEYRAC related to 2011/2023(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European disaster response: role of civil protection and humanitarian assistance (debate)
Amendments (16)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to Article 122 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
- having regard to Article 222 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (the solidarity clause) which lays down that ‘the Union and the Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the object of a terrorist attack or victim of a natural or man-made disaster’,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 c (new)
Citation 1 c (new)
- having regard to Article 23 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 d (new)
Citation 1 d (new)
- having regard to the 1994 Oslo Guidelines on the use of foreign military and civil defence assets in disaster relief,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the European Union and its Member States are faced with seven major risks: earthquakes and tsunamis; fires, including forest fires; flooding and landslides; industrial and nuclear accidents; terrorist attacks; natural disasters; and major pandemics; whereas there has been a dramatic increase in the number and severity of these natural and man-made disasters affecting the Union and its citizens, as well as other countries and regions around the world, as tragically demonstrated by the recent severe catastrophe in Japan which was hit by a combination of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe, with a corresponding increase in the loss of life and in economic, social and environmental damage and damage to cultural heritage,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the recent tragedies, notably the Haiti earthquake and the Pakistan floods, have demonstrated that the main tools available to the EU for responding to disasters (humanitarian aid and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism) proved to be working well for what they were designed for and given the circumstances, but whereas there is scopea vital need for improvement in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, coherenceordination and visibility of the EU assistance as a whole,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas, moreover, during a number of crises, particularly the tsunami of 26 December 2004, many questions were raised about the lack of systematic scenarios or protocols at European level for responding to these seven major risks and the inadequate visibility of Europe's action in relation to the overall effort,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas immediate coordination, coherence and communication within the EU and with international actors is crucial, duplicating efforts and overlaps must be avoidedwhereas the current European coordination on the ground of several teams with differing chains of command inevitably leads to duplicating efforts and overlaps and proves costly in terms of human resources, coordination and efficiency; and twhe right type of aid must reach affected populations quicklyreas, given the context of the economic and financial crisis, the European Union must develop a protection system based on the sharing and rationalisation of existing resources without any increase in overall expenditure,
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas an integrated European all- hazards approach aimed at responding to crises at all stages of their life cycle is the most effective strategy to deal with disasters; whereas this approach should linking disaster prevention (including mitigation and risk reduction), preparedness, response and recovery is the most effective strategy to deal with disasters,
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the need to rationalise and simplify the functioning of the current European disaster response and to optimise resources available for common benefit, whilst encouraging all Member States to contribute and thus guarantee European solidarity; considers, accordingly, that the EU’s reaction capacity should form part of an integrated multi-risk approach based on ‘bottom-up’ delegated management, on the voluntary sector and on Member States’ specialisations in one or more risk areas;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Further calls for the EU’s disaster reaction capacity to make use of Europe’s outermost regions and overseas territories which can form bases for facilitating logistics operations and for pre- positioning its resources in every ocean;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Re-affirms theEmphasises that the European disaster response system should respect of the principle of double subsidiarity concerning the capability of the Member States to use their own assets, especially in any case of conflicting national needsvis-à-vis the Member States and the United Nations, i.e. that it should respect the national and regional competences of each Member State on the one hand, and the coordinating role played by the United Nations in disaster relief operations on the other; points out that this strategy should live up to the expectations of the United Nations, which see clear value added in creating a European pole with a response capability;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. CallsAsks that the existing relief systems coordinated by the United Nations be taken into account, whilst calling for improved, strengthened, more cost- effective and well-coordinated transport for all in-kind assistance to disaster sites, in particular through streamlined simplified procedures, an increased co-financing rate and the introduction of new ways of allowing access to additional transport capacities, possibly through framework contracts; considers that the complementary use of military resources should be systematically envisaged and analysed in future scenarios and protocols;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls for a comprehensive communications strategy, involving all EU institutions and Member States, that will improve the overall visibility of the European actions; in the eyes of European citizens and the rest of the world; considers that this strategy should seek to simplify and standardise communication methods and tools; proposes to this end the establishment, for example, of a standard dress code and logo for all European staff, and the appointment of a single spokesperson responsible for communications on the emergency response;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to develop a clear information and prevention system for all European citizens when they travel; proposes, to this end, that European passports bear the numbers of the crisis units in each of the Member States and a reference to Article 23 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which lays down that ‘every citizen of the Union shall, in the territory of a third country in which the Member State of which he is a national is not represented, be entitled to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of any Member State (...)’.
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls for regular training for all experts involved to enhance the interoperability of different assets, as well as for further research and analysis of potential or identified gaponsiders that the dedicated training of European staff and experts in disaster response would make it possible, through ‘common core’ training and specialised modules, to develop awareness of common European working methods and response procedures;