Sargasso: MEPs question the availability of effective means to combat the proliferation of sargasso in the outermost regions

Read the question below:

Subject: Provision of effective means to combat the proliferation of sargassum in the outermost regions

Accumulations of sargassum, a brown algae that infests the sea and beaches in the Caribbean territories, have become recurrent. A mass 8,000 km wide soon threatens to pollute all the territories of Guyana and the French Antilles. The sargassum produces high emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulphide, gases that are toxic and harmful to people, the local economy and tourism, and which are particularly devastating for biodiversity.

This seaweed must be collected at sea so that it doesn't rot and release gases and can be recovered. The collection and recovery of sargassum is vital for the outermost regions and the overseas countries and territories of the Atlantic region, which need urgent resources and operational assistance.

The risk of a major health and environmental disaster is foreseeable and requires preparedness and coordinated action.

The Commission is asked to answer the following questions:

1) How could the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism be mobilized to respond to the accumulations of sargassum?

2) Under what conditions could the Commission include this phenomenon among the major disasters eligible for the European Union Solidarity Fund?

3) Would it be possible to create an emergency fund fed by the funds not used by the affected regions in the 2014-2020 period?

Read the Commission's reply below:

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