During the recent terrible floods in Emilia-Romagna in Italy, "we saw first-hand the perfect demonstration of European solidarity in practice", stated Mr Marsilio. The President of the Abruzzo region explained that several EU Member States have sent assistance and water-pumping equipment via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help deal with the disaster – Italy's worst flooding for 100 years. When an emergency overwhelms the response capabilities of a country in Europe and beyond, it can request assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. 

Addressing the Commissioner responsible for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, President Marsilio said we must see these natural disasters such as droughts and floods, earthquakes and forest fires, as a "wake-up call and signal to us that climate change will inevitably cause more and more natural disasters in the near future". Mr Marsilio knows only too well the devastating impacts of such events – back in 2009 the Abruzzo region suffered a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that devastated the city of L'Aquila, causing 309 deaths and a lot of destruction.

As hard as it is to predict when natural disasters will strike, President Marsilio listed several elements that can contribute to effective crisis management such as "coordinated action amongst Member States and the EU, and by focusing on prevention, which are needed to increase resilience to future disasters in the face of crises that are not only predictable, but those that are not", he stated.

The Abruzzo President explained that if cooperation amongst European regions is strengthened to contain and better manage these disasters that know no borders, and whose frequency and intensity are increasing, then not only would money be saved, "but more importantly we could save many lives", he concluded.