Strasbourg, France, July 8, 2026 (Lusa) - The European Commission on Wednesday highlighted the support provided to Portugal following the wildfires that broke out in the country last week, warning of increasingly extreme heatwaves, which are causing the fire season to start early.
“In recent days, Portugal and France have requested assistance due to severe forest fires. In response, nine aircraft from rescEU [the European Union’s strategic reserve] have been deployed, three to Portugal and six to France,” said Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality, during the European Parliament’s plenary session.
Speaking during a debate on the European Union’s response to heatwaves and forest fires, Hadja Lahbib noted that “the fire season has started unusually early, with the Mechanism being activated twice as early as late April and early May”.
Although the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has not yet been activated in response to heatwave-related emergencies, the European Commissioner pointed out that high temperatures “increase the risk of forest fires”.
“Last year, more than one million hectares were burnt across the EU – the highest figure ever recorded – leading to 19 requests for assistance under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. This is the highest number ever,” she noted.
According to Hadja Lahbib, “this situation calls for swift action” and, as such, “the European Commission has already taken a series of measures in the areas of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery”.
Indeed, it was thanks to the “strengthening of operational preparedness” for this season that it was possible to support Portugal in fighting wildfires with the arrival of 118 firefighters and 45 vehicles from Spain, as well as two amphibious aircraft sent by Italy, under the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
More than 15,000 hectares were burnt in Portugal in the first few days of July, with the area burnt doubling between 1 and 5 July, according to provisional data from the Integrated Rural Fire Management System (SGIFR).
According to the SGIFR, managed by the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires, the 4,592 forest fires recorded this year have resulted in 30,155 hectares of burnt area.
Compared with the same period in 2025, the burnt area has almost quadrupled, with this year’s figure being the highest since 2017.
In her speech, Hadja Lahbib also pointed out that “the European Union Solidarity Fund continues to play an important role, providing financial support to member states” in the event of natural disasters and emergencies, and that “cohesion policy and the associated funding play a key role in strengthening resilience”.
The European Commissioner also announced a new Integrated European Framework for Climate Resilience, which is due to be adopted by the end of this year.
For this fire season, Brussels has deployed 777 firefighters from 14 countries to Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus to enable a faster response to emergencies.
Europe’s capacity for this summer includes 22 fire-fighting aircraft, five helicopters and 22 certified ground teams spread across 10 member states.
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