rescEU firefighting fleet for 2023
- The rescEU firefighting aircraft reserve includes 24 airplanes and 4 helicopters from 10 Member States:
- Two medium scooping airplanes from Croatia
- Two light planes from Cyprus
- Two helicopters from Czechia
- Two medium scooping airplanes and one helicopter from France
- Two light planes from Germany
- Two medium scooping airplanes, two light planes and one helicopter from Greece
- Two medium scooping airplanes and two light planes from Italy
- Two light planes from Portugal
- Two medium scooping airplanes from Spain
- Four light planes from Sweden
- In addition, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia will be sending almost450 firefighters to be prepositioned in France, Greece and Portugal.
Preventive and monitoring measures
Following the calls from EU Ministers and the European Parliament, in 2022 the Commission developed also a Wildfire Prevention Action Plan. This action plan is organised around three objectives: 1) improve administrative capacity; 2) improve knowledge; 3) increase investments in wildfire prevention action.
As part of the prevention action plan, the EU is launching today a new Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Methodology. This new tool helps countries assess their capacity to prevent and prepare for wildfires, and supports the exchange of good practices among European countries, within the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
In addition, an Emergency Response Coordination CentreWildfires Support Teamis being created to enable near-real-time monitoring and analysis of the wildfire situation from mid-June to mid-September.
Background
Wildfire prevention, preparedness and response actions work hand in hand to save lives, livelihoods and protect the environment. Having experienced wildfire experts, well-trained firefighters, information technology and sufficient response assets available makes a difference.
The EU ensures a coordinated approach to preventing, preparing and responding to wildfires when those overwhelm national response capacities. When the scale of a wildfire overwhelms the response capabilities of a country, it can request assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Once activated, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre coordinates and finances assistance made available by EU Member States and nine additional Participating States through spontaneous offers. In addition, the EU has created the European Civil Protection Pool to have a critical number of readily available civil protection capacities allowing for a stronger and coherent collective response. Should the emergency require additional, life-saving assistance, the rescEU firefighting reserve steps in to provide additional capacities to confront disasters in Europe. The Emergency Response Coordination Centre also monitors the evolution of wildfires with the support of early warning systems such as the European Forest Fire Information System, while the EU’s Copernicus emergency satellite mapping service complements operations with detailed information from space.
For More Information
Questions and Answers on wildfires: EU response 2023
Factsheet on EU preparing for the 2023 wildfire season
Quote
Wildfires have become a pan-European concern. They gravely affect lives, livelihoods and the environment. In total, 20 EU Member States recorded more burned areas than average in 2022. The wildfire risk expanded to areas that have not previously been exposed, moving well beyond the Mediterranean region. This increase in wildfires requires decisive and prompt action also at EU level. I thank all the countries involved in boosting the EU’s response this wildfire season. At the same time, I call upon the Member States to also strengthen wildfire preventive action.
Q&A on wildfires: EU response 2023
Brussels, 30 May 2023
The fire risk in Europe and the rest of the world is expected to continue increasing due to climate change and this wildfire season will likely be increasingly characterised by massive fires that cost lives and burn areas that take longer to fully recover. In 2022 alone, wildfires burnt an area about the size of Montenegro, and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated 10 times to mobilise cross-border firefighting assistance. To be better prepared to support Member States this wildfire season, the EU has doubled its firefighting air capacity.
What are the EU’s firefighting assets for 2023
- The rescEU reserve comprises 28 firefighting aircraft. This includes 24 firefighting airplanes and 4 helicopters from the following 10 Member States:
- Croatia:2 medium scooping airplanes
- Cyprus:2 light planes
- Czechia:2 helicopters
- France:2 medium scooping airplanes and 1 helicopter
- Germany:2 light planes
- Greece:2 medium scooping airplanes, 2 light planes and 1 helicopter
- Italy:2 medium scooping airplanes and 2 light planes
- Portugal:2 light planes
- Spain:2 medium scooping airplanes
- Sweden:4 light planes
- Ground firefighting teams of more than 440 firefighters will be prepositioned in France (approx. 170), Greece (approx. 200) and Portugal (approx. 60) from the following 11 Member States:
- Austria:40 firefighters
- Bulgaria:32 firefighters
- Finland:48 firefighters
- France:40 firefighters
- Germany:40 firefighters
- Latvia:20 firefighters
- Malta:20 firefighters
- Poland:30 firefighters
- Romania:80 firefighters
- Slovakia:20 firefighters
- Slovenia:20 firefighters
• This resource sharing programme is coordinated under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The EU co-finances the travel, accommodation, subsistence, and some part of the operations costs of European firefighters to France, Greece and Portugal and back to the countries of origin.
- The rescEU reserve complements and enhances the assets that were available so far from the European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP):
- 4 Canadair planes (2 from France and 2 from Greece)
- 5 ground forest firefighting teams without vehicles modules from Greece (1), Spain (1), France (2), and Portugal (1)
- ground forest firefighting teams 7 with vehicles modules from Bulgaria (1), France (2), Poland (3), and Portugal (1)
- two forest firefighting advisory/assessment teams from Spain.
How is the rescEU firefighting fleet funded?
The EU funds 75% of the stand-by costs of assets (i.e. aircraft) and personnel during the period of the agreement (wildfire season).
100 % of transport costs for every deploymentand 75 % of operational costs are covered by the EU in case of deployment inside Europe; 100% outside Europe
What was the EU’s response to wildfires in previous years?
In the 2022 wildfire season, the EU’s rescEU firefighting fleet was made up of 13 aircraft, including 12 airplanes and 1 helicopter. Positioned throughout the EU in Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Sweden. France and Greece had also each registered 4 more Canadair in the European Civil Protection Pool.
During the year, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) received 11 requests for assistance for wildfires, in some cases simultaneously, from Albania, Czechia, France, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. There were 33 planes, 8 helicopters and over 1500 firefighters on the ground via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help overwhelmed national responders put down massive wildfires
The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) produced 328 maps of areas affected by wildfires across the world in 2022.
In 2021, rescEU firefighting planes and helicopters supported fire response in Cyprus (3 to 5 July), Italy (25 to 30 July), Turkey (1 to 24 Aug), Greece (3 to 30 August) and Austria (29 Oct to 5 Nov). In 2019, the EU sent rescEU firefighting airplanes to Greece’s Evia island (13 August).
What other tools does the EU have in place for wildfire prevention, preparedness, and monitoring?
- The EU’s 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) monitors fires of concern and maintains close contact with the authorities of the affected country.
- The ERCC Wildfires Support Team with experts from EU Member States, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism Participating States, ERCC staff as well as scientific experts from the European Natural Hazard Scientific Partnership (“ARISTOTLE”) consortium will be set up to from 19 June to 14 September.
- The European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP) brings together firefighting resources from Member States and Participating States, ready for deployment at short notice. These resources are pre-committed to the ECPP by Member States and Participating States and certified by the European Commission.
- In 2021, the Commission initiated the Wildfire Prevention Action Plan. As a tangible deliverable of this plan, a Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework (PRAF) is has now been made available. The PRAF supports wildfire risk management capacity building and good practices exchange among European countries. The PRAF will facilitate peer reviews of wildfire risk management systems within the framework of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). This new tool will help countries assess their capacity to prevent wildfires from starting and their preparedness to cope with them. Member States and Participating States are invited to volunteer for a wildfire management peer review or to use this tool for a self-review, at national and/or regional level.
- National and European monitoring services and tools such as the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) provide updated and reliable information on wildland fires in Europe. EFFIS provides fire danger forecast (short and long-term) as well as near-real time information on active fires and burnt areas.
Regular meetings will be held with EU Member and Participating States to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism during the season to exchange information on their state of preparedness and fire risks.
- TheEU’s Copernicus emergency satellite mapping service can be activated to map wildfires.
For More Information
Press release on wildfires: EU doubles rescEU firefighting fleet summer 2023