Cyclone Harry: EU urges stronger preparedness, unveils upcoming climate‑resilience framework

Brussels – “Radically step up preparations for climate impacts,” because the tragic events in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, and Greece “will not be the last of this magnitude.” This is the appeal made today (10 February) by the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Hadja Lahbib, at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg during the debate on extreme weather events and, specifically, on Cyclone Harry, which caused extensive damage in Greece, Italy, Malta, and Portugal from 19 to 21 January. “Our financial instruments must be resilient to extreme damage,” explained the Belgian Commissioner, giving MEPs a preview of the European executive’s next steps on natural disasters. “The climate assessment carried out in 2024 by the European Union showed that we are not ready,” and for this reason, “the European Commission is preparing an integrated framework for climate resilience, a support programme to build resilience from the design stage,” she announced.

The recent natural disaster that struck southern Europe was one of the first items on the European Parliament’s agenda in Strasbourg. The debate focused not so much on the causes of extreme events as on the need to strengthen the European Union’s prevention and response capabilities, including through common financial instruments that can support affected Member States.

“We know that these tragic events in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, and Greece will not be the last,” and, therefore, “investing in preparedness always pays off, both economically and in lives saved,” said the Commissioner. Lahbib recalled that the European Commission “adopted the water resiliency strategy last year.” This document aims to restore and protect the water cycle, from source to sea, to strengthen Europe’s resilience to floods, droughts, and water shortages. The Commissioner also mentioned other support instruments made available by the European Union. Such as the European Union Solidarity Fund, created “to contribute to post-disaster relief and help countries overcome extreme events.” The fund is intended to supplement public expenditure incurred by the affected states, which have 12 weeks from the date of the disaster to submit the claim to access the European Solidarity Fund, by financing essential emergency operations.

But that’s not all. According to the European Commission, existing instruments are insufficient to address increasingly frequent and intense natural disasters. For this reason, the Commission’s agenda also includes the creation of an integrated framework for climate resilience, accompanied by a support programme to “build resilience by design. It will include a lean legislative proposal and supportive measures,” Lahbib announced. The point, however, is that “citizens, businesses and policymakers need better information about the climate realities they may have to face and about how to prepare for such impacts,” and the new framework “will support clarity on risk ownership, harness the knowledge on the ground, and cater for flexibilities to account for the particular circumstances of each member state.” Lahbib also noted that, for the next Multiannual Financial Framework covering 2028–2034, the European Commission is proposing to increase funding for the Union Civil Protection Mechanism fivefold, bringing it to 10.7 billion euros.

During the debate in the Chamber, Raffaele Stancanelli, Member of Parliament for the League party (Patriots for Europe, PfE), highlighted the need to “adopt extraordinary temporary measures to ensure legal certainty and economic continuity for economic activities”. Along the same lines, his colleague from Fratelli d’Italia (European Conservatives and Reformists, ECR), Ruggero Razza, stressed the importance of intervening with the RESTORE (Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction) regulation, a plan that would allow Member States affected by climate-related disasters to benefit from a 95 per cent co-financing rate for recovery measures and would complement the aid provided by the European Union Solidarity Fund. However, “when the European Commission proposed extending the RESTORE regulation, the co-legislators said no; we need to rethink this decision,” Razza pointed out. The issue was also addressed by Giuseppe Lupo, MEP for the Democratic Party (S&D), and his colleague Giuseppe Antoci from the Five Star Movement (The Left). “We are waiting for the Italian government to intervene by allocating adequate resources” and “it is urgent that the institutions work together to activate the European Solidarity Fund and other available instruments and to extend the RESTORE regulation, to help citizens and businesses, considering the suspension of the Bolkestein Directive for the affected areas, to save jobs and the future of the territories in difficulty,” Lupo requested. “In Niscemi, the landslide is advancing, putting homes and economic activities at risk,” while “already more than 1,500 people have lost their homes.” Meanwhile, Antoci asked “the Commission for immediate support for Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria to activate all European instruments, starting with the Solidarity Fund and the flexibility of funds, with rapid, clear, and transparent procedures. And I call for prevention and adaptation: securing the territories means protecting lives and restoring dignity.” Finally, according to Green MEP Ignazio Marino (Greens–Left Alliance, The Greens/EFA), the problem lies at the root: “There are still people who deny climate change; from a scientific standpoint, that’s like having a heart attack and asking to be taken to a shaman instead of the emergency room.” Meanwhile, his colleague from Sinistra Italiana (The Left), Ilaria Salis, stressed that “the climate crisis is exacerbating a southern issue that cannot be ignored” and that “the responses cannot be limited to the emergency,” but “prevention, care for the territory, investment in small municipalities, and the involvement of local communities are needed.”