mr president i would like to thank the european parliament and in particular the members of the committee on regional development for their continued interest in and support for the solidarity fund
it is an important instrument to promote the european union's strategic objective of solidarity and since its creation in two thousand and two sixty-one applications have been received and the fund has intervened in thirty-three cases in twenty different countries
the total amount committed so far is eur one five hundred and twenty-three million
according to the recent special report by the court of auditors the fund is well managed and delivers quick efficient and flexible assistance
however this fund has its limitations
the threshold for mobilising the european union solidarity fund is extremely high
as a result the fund is not well equipped for certain types of disasters typically involving lower eligible expenditure such as forest fires and more than two thirds of all applications for the fund assistance presented so far were based on an exception for so-called extraordinary regional disasters
moreover with all the existing community instruments it is extremely difficult or indeed impossible for us to react to man-made disasters as illustrated by industrial accidents such as the oil spill or terrorist acts such as the madrid bombing of march two thousand and four
likewise it is not possible at present to provide assistance from the european union solidarity fund in the event of a serious public health crisis
for these reasons in april two thousand and five the commission adopted a proposal for a revision of the regulation
despite joint efforts with successive presidencies since two thousand and five the council has so far not been able to reach agreement on this proposal
one reason is that the large majority of member states consider that the fund works very well under the present scheme and they do not consider it necessary or appropriate to expand it to cover additional situations fearing in particular the budgetary consequences of such an expansion
the council has not formally specified the position of each member state although the council opinions are supported by quasi-unanimity
in addition it was not indicated where areas of compromise could be found in order to reach an agreement on the commission proposal
the commission remains convinced that revision of the solidarity fund regulation is necessary to increase the union's capacity to react quickly in case of major disasters which are currently not covered
therefore it will adopt a report to take stock of the six years of implementing the fund and to identify solidarity fund limitations and any room for improvement
we hope that the report will relaunch discussions in the council and in the european parliament on a revision of the current solidarity fund regulation
the report should be ready towards the end of the first quarter of two thousand and nine
with regard to civil protection the commission has begun to identify gaps in civil protection response resources on the basis of scenarios for major disasters and assess options to fill identified gaps
in this context the commission will explore innovative arrangements with the member states for reinforcing the overall eu disaster-response capacity in the framework of the pilot project and the preparatory action included in the two thousand and eight budget
on the basis of this work the commission may propose to fill the gaps through the development of civil protection modules available for deployment at any time or through additional reserve capacities designed to complement national responses to major disasters including in the area of fighting wild fires
