Over a million hectares of EU forest burned by August 2023, nearly five times more than the previous year. Portugal, Cyprus, and Spain were the most affected. The European Commission has set up standby teams and resources to improve response times to wildfires, but activists and MEP Catarina Martins express concerns about insufficient prevention efforts and budget priorities. The European Court of Auditors criticized outdated data used for wildfire risk assessments. The EU plans to enhance firefighting capabilities with new resources by 2029.