EU aims to prevent fires - New strategy with concrete funds and tools begins implementation
More than 434,976 hectares have burned across the EU, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) as of 30 July. In 2025, more than one million hectares were burned, making it the worst forest fire season since records began.
For decades, EU fire policy has meant buying more planes, trucks and firefighters. Now, the emphasis is shifting to something more important: stopping fires from becoming catastrophic in the first place.
In March 2026 the Commission launched the Integrated Wildfire Risk Management strategy, a formal move away from a response-led model towards one built on four pillars: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, with prevention first. The rationale is threefold. Europe has just experienced its worst wildfire season on record.
The strategy is translated into concrete funds and tools that are already being implemented. Money for forest fire prevention now flows through several EU instruments at once: the rural development plans of the Common Agricultural Policy, cohesion policy funds, the Recovery and Resilience Instrument, as well as LIFE and Horizon Europe research calls. In practice, this covers costs for fuel reduction, fire suppression, targeted grazing, forest thinning and restoration of fire-prone landscapes. These projects are already being implemented in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Sicily.
Around 35 percent of the EU's future long-term budget is earmarked for climate and environment, including nearly €19 billion in cohesion funds for climate adaptation, with a promised acceleration for the hardest-hit regions.
The Commission is also strengthening the European Forest Fire Information System, its satellite-based early warning and risk forecasting tool, and plans to propose a Council Recommendation on integrated forest fire risk management, together with a dedicated EU portal by 2027 to share funding pathways and lessons learned with Member States newly facing fire risk. But the most difficult problem is implementation.
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