He was speaking days after new EU data showed that in the worst year on record for wildfires, the number of professional firefighters in Europe fell by\u00a018,000<\/a>. That included a reduction of over 4,000 in France.<\/p>\n The numbers defy logic. We know that climate change is raising the risk of wildfires. Surely then the resources at the disposal of our fire services should meet the risk they are being asked to face.<\/p>\n Instead, the cuts demonstrate how spending decisions in Europe have become detached from reality. The EU Commission rightly\u00a0told member states<\/a>\u00a0ahead of this summer to ensure that they have \u201can appropriately sized and well-prepared\u201d fire service.<\/p>\n But the commission also enforces the EU\u2019s strict fiscal rules, which have led to cuts in spending on public services, including fire services.<\/p>\n Poland worst offender<\/p>\n Poland saw the greatest reduction in firefighters last year. Along with France, it was placed under an Excessive Deficit Procedure<\/a> in 2024. <\/p>\n So, too, was Belgium; its fire service is now battling wildfires with a force reduced by\u00a010<\/a> percent in 2024 and a further 200 firefighters in 2025.<\/p>\n This is not only dangerous for the public and firefighters. It’s also a false economy when the damage caused by wildfires this summer has already reached\u00a0over \u20ac3bn<\/a>.<\/p>\n The fires have been a cruel lesson that while Europe\u2019s spending rules might please adherents of 1980s economic theory, they are\u00a0unfit for the challenges<\/a>\u00a0we face today.<\/p>\n The same logic has not been applied to armaments, with huge investments being made in military hardware.\u00a0Increasingly at the\u00a0expense<\/a>\u00a0of social investment which is critical for our common security.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Russia waging war in Ukraine and ramping up\u00a0provocations within the EU<\/a>, the issue of ensuring security in Europe in a context of rising threats and challenges is clear.<\/p>\n But the conception of defence is too narrow: real resilience depends on investment in a range of key services and industries.<\/p>\n Just as wildfires have illuminated the need for resources for fire services, the Covid pandemic demonstrated the shortsightedness of cutting health services and social protection.<\/p>\n Moreover, Trump\u2019s war in the Middle East has again highlighted our crippling dependence on foreign fossil-fuels, while Europe’s emaciated industry has reduced our ability to create domestic alternatives.<\/p>\n Attacks on workers\u2019 rights have driven down living standards and undermined social cohesion, creating the conditions for malign forces to undermine democracy in an era of hybrid warfare.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e5d75a7a9ebd6e00237841501acd613c-600x450.jpg\")
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