03/01/24 (Agence Europe) – In response to requests for assistance from flood-stricken Germany and France (Lower Saxony and Thuringia in Germany, and Nord and Pas-de-Calais in France), the EU has mobilised aid through its civil protection mechanism, the Commission announced on Wednesday 3 January. In Germany, 39 responders from France with containment barriers and 16 vehicles began to help. For France, 3 large-capacity modules with four water pumps from the Netherlands, two from the Czech Republic and two from Slovakia were due to leave on Wednesday. Austria, Hungary, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia have also offered to help if necessary. The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, thanked the contributing countries “for quickly showing their support”. (AN)