"Parliamentary questions

24 February 2021

Question for written answer E-001101/2021/rev.1 to the Commission Rule 138

Giuseppe Milazzo (PPE) 

Subject: Fire service detachment on the island of Ustica

Ustica municipal council has made repeated requests to the Italian Government to convert the volunteer detachment of firemen on the island into a permanent detachment. Such a detachment is needed both to ensure prompt response times and to protect the island’s wealth of flora and fauna. In the event of fire or other emergencies, it currently takes the fire brigade based in Palermo five hours to intervene, and even longer still in adverse weather conditions.

On top of this, Ustica’s firefighters are all volunteers, which means it is not a concrete job option, and these volunteers leave if they find better paid employment elsewhere.

Despite the repeated requests made to the Italian Government, the island of Ustica still does not have a proper fire service, in breach of EU legislation on the protection of European forests against fire. Can the Commission say:

1 whether it is aware of this situation and how it views the risk it poses to Ustica’s woods and forests; and

2 what measures it can take to call on the Italian Government to respond to these requests?

Last updated: 22 March 2021".