2026年7月，法国遭遇严重野火灾害。[1]波尔多附近的火灾吞没超过4.2万公顷森林和植被，[1]气温有时超过40摄氏度。[1]超过22万人被迫撤离家园和度假屋。[1]面对这一重大灾情，法国总统马克龙启动欧盟民事保护机制，请求欧洲其他国家援助。[1]
欧盟迅速动员跨境救援力量。葡萄牙、克罗地亚、捷克、德国、土耳其、瑞典和斯洛伐克派遣飞机和直升机支援法国。[1]法国首次部署A400M军用运输机灭火，该机可投放约20吨阻燃剂，是加拿大飞机的3倍多。[1]37个参与国中13架共22架可用消防飞机已被动员用于法国和西班牙。[1]与此同时，欧盟向西班牙派遣6架额外消防飞机应对当地火情。[1]
为加强长期应对能力，欧盟计划建立rescEU舰队，耗资约6亿欧元，购置12架新消防飞机。[1]2026年夏季灾害期间，欧盟在6个易受影响地区预先部署了来自14个国家的777名消防员。[1]
France activated the European Union's civil protection mechanism in July 2026 to combat an unprecedented wildfire crisis that devastated the region around Bordeaux [1]. The blaze consumed more than 42,000 hectares of forest and vegetation, forcing more than 220,000 people to evacuate their homes and holiday properties [1]. Temperatures in the affected areas occasionally exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) [1].
In response to French President Macron's request for assistance, seven EU member states and partner countries mobilized aerial resources to support firefighting efforts [1]. Portugal, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Turkey, Sweden, and Slovakia dispatched planes and helicopters to help contain the spread [1]. The EU simultaneously deployed six additional firefighting aircraft to Spain to address ongoing fire conditions there [1]. France made its first operational use of the A400M military transport aircraft for firefighting purposes, capable of dropping approximately 20 tons of flame retardant—more than three times the capacity of Canadian firefighting planes [1].
Across the 37 participating nations in the civil protection mechanism, a combined 22 firefighting aircraft were activated, with 13 of these deployed to France and Spain [1]. In preparation for the 2026 summer season, the EU had prepositioned 777 firefighters from 14 countries across six high-risk regions [1]. Looking ahead, the EU is establishing the rescEU fleet, a new initiative budgeted at approximately 600 million euros (682 million US dollars), which will add 12 additional firefighting aircraft to Europe's disaster response capabilities [1].