12. Emphasises the individual responsibility of the Member States for civil protection and disaster control measures and their primary responsibility for preventing and extinguishing fires; invites the Commission to take the necessary action to establish an independent, permanent European reaction force to assist the Member States and the affected regions during extreme forest fires and other disasters, providing the best equipment and expertise; notes, in this connection, that the Commission should study ways of securing access to complementary capacity that may be available from other sources, including private resources, to ensure a ...[+++] rapid response to major emergencies;

Large fires fanned by strong winds devoured hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and claimed many lives of civilians and dedicated fire fighters.

B. having regard to the deaths of dozens of people in the countries affected - firefighters, military personnel, civilians and volunteers - who lost their lives combating these particularly fierce fires and tremendous floods,

B. having regard to the deaths of dozens of people in the countries affected - firefighters, military personnel, civilians and volunteers - who lost their lives combating these particularly fierce fires and tremendous floods,

A. having regard to the volatility of the European climate and the devastating fires and violent floods which have caused death and destruction throughout the continent of Europe in the summer of 2005, including in the EU Member States, the candidate countries and the EU's immediate neighbours; whereas Hurricane Katrina has caused unprecedented destruction in the US states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama,

A. having regard to the volatility of the European climate and the devastating fires and violent floods which have caused death and destruction throughout the continent of Europe in the summer of 2005, including in the EU Member States, the candidate countries and the EU's immediate neighbours; whereas Hurricane Katrina has caused unprecedented destruction in the US states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama,