Panorama 18.07.2025

Euranet Plus Panorama is a weekly news review that showcases our network’s wide-ranging coverage of EU-related stories.

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Radio România Internațional, 21.07.2025, 16:13

Working together to fight wildfires

As Southern Europe braces for a summer of searing heat and wildfires, Brussels prepares to get stuck in.

According to the EU’s Copernicus climate service, June 2025 was the hottest month in Western Europe since records began. All the signs therefore point to a painful period for certain member states over the coming months.

A crisis of clima(c)tic proportions

One such member state is Portugal, where Carlos da Câmara, a climatologist and researcher at the University of Lisbon, explains to our colleagues at Rádio Renascença that the wet spring experienced by his country somewhat counterintuitively leads to an increased risk of serious fires this summer.

Carlos da Câmara, Climatologist (in Portuguese):
“This is one of those years when we could have serious forest fires or rural fires because, having had a very wet spring, we have very abundant vegetation. And this vegetation dries out very easily. This means that we have a lot of material that is ideal for burning. If we now have a very hot summer punctuated by heatwaves, this could lead to complicated problems.”

Da Câmara adds that the frequency, intensity and extent of heatwaves are increasing at a rapid rate.

Back at the end of March, Brussels presented its ‘Preparedness Union Strategy’. This was conceived to strengthen the EU’s capacity to prevent – and provide a coordinated response to – emerging threats of all kinds, be they climate-related, health-related or other hybrid threats.

The strategy seeks to improve coordination between member states through a new Emergency Response Coordination Centre. It also aims to serve as a crisis survival guide for EU citizens.
During last week’s plenary debate on the Preparedness Union Strategy (9 July), European Parliament vice-president Victor Negrescu called for a real shift of focus towards prevention. His comments are shared by Radio România.

Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament (in Romanian):
“The European Union must move from reaction to prevention. Fires and droughts are no longer exceptions; they are the new normal. In Romania, we have seen how extreme temperatures have destroyed crops in Timis, Alba and Olt; how strong winds have set fields alight in Giurgiu and Teleorman. In Constanța, farmers have found their land parched, and in many villages firefighters have had to intervene using old or inadequate equipment.”

And with negotiations just now kicking off on the EU’s next long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), VP Negrescu asked MEPs to keep crisis prevention in mind during the negotiation process.

Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament (in Romanian):
“As chief negotiator of the EU budget for 2025, I secured additional funding for emergencies, more resources to equip local authorities, direct support for vulnerable communities and the creation of a real European capacity for early response. But we must not let up. We cannot leave communities to face crises alone. A prepared Union is one that prevents, not just intervenes; and prevention must become a central pillar of our European budget and policies.”

During the same debate, Hadja Lahbib, the commissioner responsible for preparedness and crisis management, echoed Negrescu’s call. AMS reports.

Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management (in English):
“Let’s be clear, preparedness needs resources. We need bold, sustained investment in prevention and preparedness. And of course, I do not forget recovery. Recovery is essential, not just to rebuild, but to give hope and support to those affected by a disaster. The EU Solidarity Fund is a vital tool to make sure that when crisis strikes, no country is left to face it alone. That is why I count on your support to uphold a strong level of ambition in the upcoming [MFF] negotiation. This is not about political bargaining, it is about solidarity, the very soul of our European Union.”

Comrades-in-arms

Concretely, in terms of the wildfires, the European Commission announced, at the end of May, the deployment of an EU-coordinated team some 650 firefighters strong. These personnel, sourced from 14 different member states, will be based in key locations in France, Spain, Portugal and Greece – all member states at elevated risk of forest fires. And further firefighting teams are on standby across the bloc, should the need arise.

In addition, 22 firefighting planes and four helicopters have been deployed across 10 member states with the aim of reinforcing national capacities over the critical summer months. Brussels is also ready to provide Copernicus satellite images.

This initiative is intended to help member states launch a faster and more robust response to fire-related crises.

Following the Commission’s announcement, the president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters, António Nunes, warned, in an interview with Renascença, of the need for specific training for those firefighters who were being sent to Portugal.

António Nunes, President of the League of Portuguese Firefighters (in Portuguese):
“From the point of view of reinforcing resources, this is always welcome, and I think the European Union is demonstrating that it is concerned, above all, with the issue of climate change, which has been causing fires in various EU member states to become more intense and spread more quickly. The question that often arises with the mobilisation of these teams clearly relates to the framework that needs to be put in place in order to adapt the technical knowledge of some of these teams to the nature and typology of our forest, which is different from that of other countries.”

Any country affected by wildfires – including non-EU states – can request firefighting assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by contacting the 24/7 coordination centre in Brussels.

This hub then gathers offers of assistance from other states and manages the deployment of resources.

The European Commission also wants to launch an EU-wide stockpiling strategy to strengthen access to critical resources in the event of a crisis or climate disaster.