mr president i would like to express the sorrow felt by all members of the committee on regional development at the terrible loss of life in madeira and our intention to do all we can to assist madeira in its hour of need
of course the national and regional authorities are already doing their utmost to relieve the difficulties encountered by the people and especially those who have been left homeless and we urgently await their request for european assistance through the european solidarity fund
i am sure it will be treated with the utmost expediency by all concerned
we ask the european commission to mobilise all its resources and review with the portuguese authorities how the ongoing european programmes can be adjusted to assist the region
let me emphasise that the existing solidarity fund continues to have well-known limitations
back in april two thousand and five the commission adopted a proposal for the revision of the regulation which was then adopted by the parliament at first reading in may two thousand and six
despite the undeniable usefulness of a more flexible solidarity fund despite the necessity of extending its ambit of operations to cover unforeseen man-made disasters and criminal acts as well as natural ones the council has been unable to reach a common position on the review of the fund since may two thousand and six
in the light of the terrible events in madeira we see more clearly than ever that we need a solidarity fund which could effectively meet the challenges and allow the union to deliver prompt and effective assistance when member states suffer a disaster
i would therefore call on the spanish presidency to relaunch the process of amending the solidarity fund proving in this way that the spirit of real european solidarity remains at the heart of the european project
