Brussels, 13 August 2024
The production of twelve amphibious firefighting planes to make up the permanent rescEU fleet has been launched following agreements signed by a number of EU Member States with the Canadian Commercial Corporation.
The planes will be financed by the European Commission and will become the new backbone of the EU’s crisis response to tackle forest fires. Aircraft from the rescEU reserves can be rapidly deployed in case a country is facing severe wildfires that require additional support.
This is in line with the EU’s long-term strategy to establish a permanent rescEU firefighting fleet hosted by Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Ten additional firefighting planes are being purchased by Member States directly to reinforce their national fleets.
Welcoming the success of this coordinated effort by the Commission and Member States, Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said:
“This is a historic moment in European civil protection in this age of climate crisis. As wildfire seasons become longer, deadly and more unpredictable, we have been working tirelessly to bolster the EU’s firefighting response capacities. Today’s announcement proves that Europe is committed to strengthening and deepening these efforts. I want to thank all the Member States with whom we have worked to speed up the purchase of much-needed firefighting planes. Thanks to our collaboration, we are well on track with the timeline set by the European Commission to acquire a new, permanent fleet of firefighting aircraft of planes and helicopters.”
The estimated delivery of the first batch of these new planes is expected at the end of 2027.
Background
Wildfires have recently become a pan-European concern, and the fire risk is expected to further increase due to climate change.
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism coordinates pan-European assistance and ensures that all EU Member States and participating states to the Mechanism receive timely information in times of crises and emergencies.
Since 2019, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been progressively reinforced with the rescEU fleet, a European reserve that includes firefighting planes and helicopters and is 100% financed by the EU.
The EU funds will enable the acquisition of a total of 12 new firefighting planes, which will be distributed among six EU Member States (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain), and a number of helicopters. These will become the ‘permanent rescEU fleet’. The first airplanes are expected to be delivered in 2027. A first batch of helicopters are expected to arrive in 2026.
More information
Quote(s)
This is a historic moment in European civil protection in this age of climate crisis. As wildfire seasons become longer, deadly and more unpredictable, we have been working tirelessly to bolster the EU’s firefighting response capacities. Today’s announcement proves that Europe is committed to strengthening and deepening these efforts. I want to thank all the Member States with whom we have worked to speed up the purchase of much-needed firefighting planes. Thanks to our collaboration, we are well on track with the timeline set by the European Commission to acquire a new, permanent fleet of firefighting aircraft of planes and helicopters.
Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management
Source – EU Commission
EU deploys assistance to combat wildfires in Greece and Albania
The Commission is mobilising emergency support to Greece and Albania, both of which have activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in response to severe wildfires.
The European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) has immediately mobilised both aerial and ground firefighting resources from several European countries that are part of the Civil Protection Mechanism to assist Greece. This support includes two rescEU firefighting planes from Italy, a rescEU helicopter from France and a helicopter offered by Serbia. Additionally, ground firefighting teams are deployed from Czechia, France, Italy, Serbia and Romania, while Romanian, Maltese and Moldovan firefighters, already prepositioned in Greece, were among the first responders battling the fires in Greece.
The support for Albania includes one multipurpose military plane from Romania with a capacity of 6 tons of water. The plane will be deployed on 14 August.
The Commission is closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to deploy further assistance as needed.
As part of its preparedness measures for this year’s fire season, the EU has enhanced its rescEU and European Civil Protection Pool, which now includes 28 airplanes and 4 helicopters stationed across 10 Member States. Additionally, during the wildfires season over 540 firefighters from 12 countries are prepositioned in key locations across Europe, ready to assist local fire brigades when necessary.
Source – EU Commission