Athens, 11 September 2007

Greece Proposes EU Crisis Managment

As foreign minister, you had a very tough job, seeking assistance from EU member states, and other countries in your effort to fight the unprecedented fires in Greece. You managed to get help from many countries who showed their solidarity and support. Where do we go from here, to avoid such events taking place again?

Let me start by saying that in Greece we experienced first-hand the solidarity of European and other countries, to which we have repeatedly expressed our gratitude, and the gratitude of the Greek people. For this great wave of solidarity, efforts were required by the government both on the levels of the Prime Minister, and of my ministry, with repeated contacts with governments of many other countries. As regards where we go from here, we have taken an initiative concerning the reinforcement of European cooperation for the prevention and handling of situations of emergency and natural disasters. It is a well structured proposal that is stems from the recent discussion in Paris between the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, and the French President, Nikola Sarkozy, inspired by the Barnier report which it brings back to the forefront.

How were your thoughts received?

The discussions we had with my colleagues and the Commission were very positive and productive. I met in Brussels with the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Amado, who is carrying the presidency if the European Union this period, as well as Spanish Foreign Minister Mr. Moratinos, Deputy Foreign Minister of France Mr. Joyet , and European Commissioner for Environment Mr. Stavros Dimas. The support behind the proposal for this important European issue was continued and increased. What is important is that the Portuguese Presidency will include the Greek proposal on the agenda of the meeting of the EU General Affairs Council in the coming month of October.

What is the essence of this proposal?

The European Union's strategic aim should be the creation of a cohesive mechanism of European Civil Protection that will embody the principal of European solidarity through concrete and effective collective action. We intend to achieve maximal automation in the implementation of European solidarity. Ideally, we should reach a point where only one telephone call is required to activate this mechanism.

How will you go about achieving this "phone-call-away" force?

There are three basic steps required to achieve this strategic target. Firstly, there needs to be greater coordination and further reinforcement of the effectiveness of the Monitoring and Information Centre that is already operating under the European Commission. For this purpose we can without delay increase common training programs, common exercises and exchange of experts. Parallel to the reinforcement of this coordination, we must create a European 'pool of forces' and means of civil protection through national contributions from member states. This pool of forces, which will act as reinforcements to national efforts of the member state or states facing the emergency, will be activated either preventively or reactively depending on the needs that arise.

What is the future ambition for this force?

Eventually, the pool of forces made up of voluntary contributions of member states is to be transformed into a force of means of the European Union. In this way, the EU achieves its own Civil Protection powers which will complement, support and act additionally to the existing national forces. We could also foresee the installation of units of this EU emergency force in different geographic locations of the European space so as to increase their speed of intervention in areas which face problems of particular intensity.

Do you believe that the proposal will be well received by European citizens?

Greece believes strongly that it is the duty of the EU to fight and win against the consequences of climatic changes. This is what the European Citizens demand in the North and Central Europe where unprecedented floods were suffered this year; this is what the citizens of the South demand who suffered the catastrophic fires. The Greek Proposal will bring the European Union closer to the European Citizen. With these specific policies, the EU can recapture the ‘mind and heart’ of its citizens. This is why we believe that with this specific proposal, we need to have essential and tangible progress before the European Parliamentary elections of 2009.

What about other programs that the European Commission is running in this field?

Independently and in parallel with this plan for a complete European mechanism of Civil Protection certain technical pilot programs also need to be supported, like the "Fire Four". Greece has already connected itself with this program. With the actions underway, very soon we will be able to talk about the strengthening of this program and its renaming to "Fire Five".