EU allocates €600 million to strengthen RescEU firefighting air fleet

Brussels – The European Commission is preparing for the inevitable summer fires and financing the purchase of new firefighting aircraft to increase the air combat capability of rescEU, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism’s strategic crisis response reserve.

600 million euros of EU funds will be used to purchase 12 new planes, which will be hosted across six EU member states – Croatia, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain.

These new planes will be used to extinguish fires across the European Union, in particular during the difficult summer months when lives, homes, and livelihoods are increasingly under threat due to large scale forest fires.

The announcement comes as Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič attended a signature ceremony today in Zagreb for an agreement between the Croatian government and the Canadian Commercial Corporation to purchase specialized firefighting aircraft. After the recent signing of a similar agreement by the Greek government, the deal marks an important step in increasing the aerial firefighting capability in the EU, protecting European citizens from disasters.

Five years ago, the European Commission updated the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and created rescEU to protect citizens from disasters and manage emerging risks. Fully funded by the EU, rescEU was established as a stockpile of European capacities and includes a fleet of firefighting aircraft and helicopters.