MEP Maria da Graça Carvalho (PSD) criticized yesterday, at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, the lack of solutions to the problem of water shortages in Portugal, particularly in the Algarve, considering that the government in office, “instead of acting, it limits itself to reacting to crises.”
“This is what it is doing now, in the face of a serious drought in the Algarve region, which threatens agricultural production, tourism and urban supply itself”, he denounced.
Intervening in a debate on “the water and drought crisis in the EU as a consequence of the climate crisis and the need for a sustainable and resilient strategy for Europe”, the MEP recalled that “we have more than enough scientific evidence that [ these problems] arise from climate change, and will tend to increase in the future, especially in Southern European countries”.
Therefore, he considered that “measures aimed at saving and reusing water” should be streamlined. And also, in cases where this is justified, the use of solutions such as desalination”.
Also in relation to the European Union as a whole, Maria da Graça Carvalho considered it necessary to look for better solutions. “We need a European Water Strategy. We need more science and innovation in this area,” she said.
And he recalled: “That is why I have been fighting for the creation of a Knowledge and Innovation Community, within the scope of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, dedicated to the study of water. An initiative in which, I hope, my country will play an important role”.
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