The EC Creates an Air Fleet to Combat Fires

The reason is the risk of forest fires during the summer, reported NOVA TV. 

In order to prepare for forest fire risk, the Commission announced the first fleet of firefighting aircraft under the new rescEU system to deal with natural disasters in the coming summer.

So far, seven firefighters and six helicopters will be part of the rescEU fleet during the initial transition period and the Commission will interact with participating countries to add additional assets in the coming weeks, the EC press service said in Bulgaria.

Five EU Member States, often affected by forest fires in recent years, have already made available their aircraft and helicopters for the transitional fleet of the rescEU for 2019. Initial assets are: 2 Croatian airplanes, 1 French airplane, 2 Italian airplanes , 2 aircraft from Spain and 6 helicopters from Sweden.

In addition to setting up the rescEU fleet, the European Commission is strengthening its monitoring and coordination capacity to prepare for the forest fires season.

The long-term goal is to increase capacity and assets, as well as build a stronger rescEU reserve.