EU to fund new rescEU planes

The aircraft will be used to reinforce the firefighting capacity of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU). A further 12 planes have reportedly been ordered directly by the member states.

The decision was announced during the EU-Canada Summit on 24 November.

During the same event, the Emergency Management and Programs Branch (EMPB) of Public Safety Canada signed an agreement with the EU’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations to cooperate on emergency management activities.

This arrangement will see Canada and the EU share expertise on how to prevent and respond to disasters, with a focus on six key areas:

• Information sharing on response and recovery
• Sharing of lessons learned
• Information on international outreach
• Public awareness and training
• Warning systems
• Capacity-building activities.

“The climate emergency is all too real,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “We must partner to better address natural disasters. This is why today we agreed to work more closely with Canada on risk management and response. And we are looking forward to strengthening our European fleet by adding Canadian firefighting planes.”

The EU more than doubled the size of its RescEU aerial firefighting fleet in 2023, to a total of 24 fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters, supplied by 10 member states.