Commission’s technical support to Greece in tackling the structural reasons for wildfires crisis

The Commission has approved a new project to support to Greece through the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) to help the country tackle the natural disaster of the recent wildfires. The request for support has been submitted by the Natural Environment & Climate Change Agency (NECCA) of the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy. The support aims at recovering and halting the potential biodiversity loss in the northern part of the Greek island of Evia. Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “Wildfires have caused devastation in this part of Greece. The Commission is here to help and once again the Technical Support Instrument demonstrates its flexibility in helping Member States to recover from natural disasters and restore natural capital. This is a powerful instrument tailored on Member states’ needs that can be used upon request on a variety of sectors and issues and that can help all Member States achieving their reform objectives.” In particular, support measures will include new guidelines to address wildfires’ impact on Evia’s ecosystems and the building up biodiversity hotspots based on EU good practices. Moreover, the project will produce useful recommendations for setting up a hub of experts to provide scientific and technical support in designing and implementing support measures to local authorities. The TSI offers expertise to all EU countries for the implementation of growth-enhancing reforms. The support offered by the Commission is based on request and is tailor-made for the beneficiary Member State. Since 2017, the Structural Reform Support Programme and the TSI have been supporting over 1,000 reform projects in all 27 Member States.