European Union pledges to help Spain cope with 'devastating' floods

Las “devastadoras” scenes dejadas por las brutales inundaciones Sufridas en Valencia and otras zonas del south y este de España, with casi un centen de muertos y tens desaparecidos, han causado una grand comcoción en Bruselas, donde los los responsables de maines de maines Europe institutions se hans hand hans hand sadiq “help” On Wednesday, que sea necesario para que las zonas afectadas se recuperen lo antes posible y han alentado a las official nationales a pedir todos los fuerzos que quieran.

The European Commission launched the Copernicus satellite mapping system “to help coordinate rescue teams” at Spain's request. In a press conference from Brussels, the President of the European Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, also assured that the Union's civil protection mechanism can be activated immediately, which seeks to strengthen cooperation between the G27 and others on this issue. ten participating countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Macedonia del Norte, Moldavia, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine), among others, to guarantee the dispatch of emergency aid or “opportunistic” experts. of se deale y las necessitas del país taladante. Todo está listo for lanzar el protocolo for Madrid así loicita, aseguran fuentes communitarias, que precisan que a cada país vallorar si counta suficiente equipos de refuerzos.

“You can lose the situation, along with the terrace cubierta, search politely, you will find a delightful place.” Dozens of people lost their lives and were displaced for miles (…) rescue teams are working tirelessly to save the maximum number of people possible and Europe is ready to help”, ha dicho Von der Leyen at the beginning of a public speech in Brussels. “Europe is ready to help,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who was visiting Madrid but canceled part of her agenda because of the natural disaster, in Spanish.

Assurances that Spain will not be left alone before the worst cold snap of the century also came from the European Council, whose president Charles Michel said he was “ready to lend Europe's support” and offered condolences. victims. “Querido Pedro Sánchez, estamos a tu lado,” he said.

Apart from the immediate aid in the matter of salvation, Spain can also opt out, as han recently joined several countries affected by severe floods, Ayudas del Fundo de Solidaridad de la EU. Almost all the Spanish political groups present in the European Parliament have insisted on the EU in this sense, demanding to activate all the “emergency aid” that Spain may require after Dana.

Socialist MEPs Leire Pajín, Cristina Maestálve and Lina Maestrez declared that “Once again there is a need for a disaster, once again cambio climática es una realidad de consequencias disastadas”. Likewise, Dolors Monsterrat, head of the PP in Brussels and vice-president of the European People's Party (PPE), in a letter signed together with PP leader Alberto Núñez-Feijóo, asked Von der Leyen to “activate, help mitigate the consequences of this disaster. Also, the MEPs of Podemos Irene Montero and Issa Serra called on the Commission to “provide the EU Solidarity Fund to Spain and activate the Civil Protection Mechanism”.

The Solidarity Fund is not a rapid response tool like the Copernicus system or the civil defense mechanism, but a “post-disaster” aid tool to help restore public infrastructure such as damaged roads, trains or bridges in the territorial part of Spain. Governments have up to 12 weeks to do so and provide an estimate of the damage.

Last week, the European Commission officially proposed the reform of three rules of the EU. among them mutual funds, Guaranteeing the “rapid mobilization of European funds to support post-disaster recovery”. The measure was proposed by Von der Leyen during a visit to Poland in September, where after meeting the leaders of several countries (except Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria) that were seriously affected by the floods last summer, Germany “Paso audaz” con los fundos de cohesion, de los que indico se pólara mobilizar up to 10,000 million de euros promised “for emergencies”. Union funds already help to prevent and recover from climate disasters, but the proposal seeks “additional flexibility” to use some of those funds to “repair infrastructure and damaged equipment, provide food, help with basic needs,” according to Brussels. materials.”

In a message from Madrid, the Eurocámara president promised to speed up the legislative process to approve these reforms. “I promise that the European Parliament will work quickly to do what is necessary,” Metsola promised. In a rare act of unanimity at this time of deep political polarization, several European political groups, from the Social Democrats to the PPE or the Greens, demanded that the next plenary session of the Eurocámara be debated on the disaster, and that a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims of the Spanish tragedy.