As forest fires are already beginning to rage in France and Europe, the European Commission has announced the establishment of a reserve fleet, comprising water bomber planes and helicopters, positioned in different countries, including France. A fleet that will be operational this summer, explains Nicolas Gros-Verheyde, editor-in-chief of the daily on European geopolitics B2 Bruxelles2 and correspondent for South West in Brussels :
How do European firefighting forces pool their resources?
There is indeed a system that has been developed, which is based somewhat on mutual solidarity, with a dozen Canadair or Dash planes, water bombers which are placed in reserve by each of the countries and available to each of the countries.
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For example, you have two in France, two in Spain, two in Croatia and two in Italy. And if there is a request from a country, for example from Spain, these planes can be made available to the country concerned. And with European funding, which was the problem a few years ago. Normally, this makes it possible to compensate the country which sends its planes to the other country.
So can we really speak of a European fleet given that it is dispersed?
It is a shared European fleet. It is dispersed, but for a French plane, it is not very far to go to Catalonia. It’s not much further than for a Spanish plane. But the Spaniards have to ask for it, they need it. Then, this solidarity comes into play when there is an impossibility on the spot to face the fire. And this is not yet the case in Spain. The forest fires are very important, but apparently the Spanish forces are sufficient. And then, if in terms of technique, extinguishing a fire is the same throughout Europe, on the other hand knowledge of the terrain is not automatically the same. So it’s better for there to be a Spanish driver who knows his terrain rather than a French driver who will discover it. This is why it is an extreme recourse.
So it’s a difficulty to create uniqueness in this European fleet, right?
Because the terrain is different, but currently, we are in a position that is better than the one that existed in previous years, where it was totally voluntary, whereas there are fleets that are normally placed in reserve and available to other countries that request it. The problem is if in France, Spain, Greece and Croatia, there are fires at the same time, everyone concentrates on their national territory and on their own forces. So there are reinforcement forces, but we can say that twelve planes in all, it may not be enough, if there are a multitude of forest fires that break out. It may be something that will have to be developed in the future to have more planes. The problem is the reserve of planes and pilots available in each of the countries.
And also perhaps the question of obsolescence because these devices are sometimes a bit old depending on the country?
This is the whole question of the renewal of this fleet in all countries. To have a European fleet, each country must have a modernized fleet. And often, I insist, the personnel, because it is often the personnel that can be lacking as much as the planes. There is an efficient staff, but they have to stay put. In France, there is a problem of discontent among pilots who do not feel paid enough, or not considered enough. So we have to manage to keep drivers as specialized as that.