EU plans new firefighting fleet after deadly summer heat wave

The European Union needs to develop new tools to cope with a worsening climate, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday as she proposed a new European Heatwave Plan and a future EU firefighting fleet of aeroplanes.

Speaking during her annual State of the European Union address in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said the scorching summer, which dried up rivers and contributed to tens of thousands of deaths across the bloc from Portugal to Hungary, had exposed the need for stronger preparedness.

“This summer was the summer of truth. Almost no part of our continent was spared,” von der Leyen said.

She said key European rivers, including the Danube, Rhine and Garonne, were “disappearing before our eyes”, while care homes and hospitals had become dangerously overheated.

The EU currently operates a small firefighting fleet of its own and coordinates a wider network of aircraft, water trucks and volunteers that can be deployed across the 27-member bloc as wildfires break out.

Von der Leyen said she had asked emergency responders and senior firefighters to “think bigger and learn faster” and work on “new capabilities” for the EU to tackle increasing climate instability.

The extreme heat that hit Europe unusually early and severely this year appears to have caused a much larger rise in deaths than initially expected. Von der Leyen cited more than 35,000 additional deaths during the heat waves, a figure that is about three times estimates of excess deaths issued by monitoring groups in July.

A study by the World Weather Attribution group found that the record-breaking heat and humidity experienced across Europe this summer would not have occurred without human-caused climate change.

“All of this is a mere preview. These were the hottest summer months ever, but probably the coolest of the years to come,” von der Leyen said, adding that Europe was warming at twice the global rate.

While praising firefighters and other emergency responders who battled the blazes, von der Leyen also paid tribute to Danish helicopter pilot Rune Kyndal, who died in August while fighting wildfires in Greece.

When she mentioned Kyndal during her address, members of the European Parliament erupted in applause.

“Rune gave his life to save others and today, all of Europe owes him,” von der Leyen said.