Portugal will receive new firefighting planes

The European Commission will acquire new aircraft to increase aerial firefighting capacity, as part of the European Union’s (EU) Civil Protection Mechanism’s strategic crisis response reserve, rescEU. 600 million euros of European funds will be used to acquire twelve aircraft, which will be based in six Member States: Croatia, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

This equipment will be used to extinguish fires across the European Union, particularly during the summer months when lives, homes and livelihoods are increasingly threatened by large-scale wildfires.

The EU ensures a coordinated approach to preventing, preparing for and responding to forest fires when they overwhelm national responses. When the scale of a forest fire exceeds a country’s response capabilities, it can request assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Once activated, the European Union Emergency Response Coordination Center coordinates the financial assistance made available by the 27 Member States and 10 participating States (Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine) through spontaneous actions.

In 2019, the European Commission updated the European Civil Protection Mechanism and created rescEU to protect citizens against disasters and manage emerging risks. Fully financed by the EU, this measure was created as a reserve of European capabilities and includes a fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters. In 2023, rescEU was mobilized 35 times, for an estimated total value of 110 million euros, particularly in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the earthquakes that hit Turkey and the forest fires in Tunisia and Greece.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, participated in the signing ceremony of the agreement between the Croatian government and the Canadian Commercial Corporation for the purchase of specialized firefighting aircraft and said “It has been a few years since the European Commission has started the process to increase aerial firefighting capabilities in Europe. I congratulate

Croatia, as well as Greece, which were the first to make the first planes of what will constitute a new generation of European aerial firefighting capability a reality. (…) This is an important step towards acquiring the aircraft that will help protect citizens across Europe. It will be 100% paid for by the European Commission as part of our enhanced rescEU firefighting capacity, ready to combat increasingly intense wildfires across Europe.”

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