Devastating wildfires and heatwaves matched only by European Commission’s bonfire of climate legislation
In a debate in the European Parliament today on deadly wildfires in southern Europe, the Commission seemed confused. On one hand, the Commission was adamant that wildfires across Europe will increase without climate action, while on the other hand the European Commission has been cutting its climate action agenda.
In July, the Commission ignored its own independent scientific body when setting its 2040 emissions targets. Prior to that, the Commission even appeared to pull its own Green Claims Directive. And in the most striking example of climate backtracking, Ursula von der Leyen last week the Commission signed off on the Mercosur trade deal, described as disastrous for the climate by activists.
Speaking from the European Parliament floor in Strasbourg today, Giorgios Georgiou (AKEL, Cyprus) said: “Cyprus holds the unfortunate record for most fires this decade based on total territory. 104 square kilometres have been burned. We did not see the EU’s solidarity. We asked for two planes from Spain, after three months they have not yet arrived. The responsibilities of the Cypriot government are of course enormous, but none of the responsible ministers resigned. Since 2016, The Left has been calling for a European firefighting base to be established in Cyprus. We have been ignored. You told us we need investment. Then redirect the billions spent on armaments and let the war interests earn less for once.”
Catarina Martins (Bloco de Esquerda, Portugal) said: “The European Union has failed to live up to our expectations. The European Civil Protection Mechanism took five days to deploy air assets after being activated. Five long days. While they continue to export weapons to Israel and promise Trump more business for the military-industrial complex, Member States and European institutions are failing in the most basic way to guarantee the safety of their populations—civil protection—as if the safety of European citizens were secondary.”
Giuseppe Antoci (Movimento 5 Stelle) said: “This summer Sicily was the most affected region in Italy by wildfires, with hundreds of thousands of interventions by the fire brigade and vast regions and forests gone up in smoke. In Sardinia, where 2,500 fires are recorded on average every year, in one day alone in September they counted already 26 with helicopters in action. 2025 is already a European record in terms of burned hectares. Those who pay the highest price are communities and farmers, and along with the forests it has burnt people’s faith in our institutions, suffocated by inefficiency and delays. Europe must reinforce its prevention capabilities, strengthen early warning systems and the rescEU fleet with permanent bases in Mediterranean countries.”
