Brussels, 01/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - At its February plenary session, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an opinion on flood risk management by rapporteur Henk Aalderink (Liberal, Netherlands). In its opinion, the CoR states that the threat of flooding is a problem which comes under the aegis of the local authorities and must be tackled at the scale of the river basin. The general objective, the CoR explains, should be to create joint responsibility and solidarity within a river basin, so that the entire area will be taken into account in searches for effective measures to fight the threat of flooding in small areas within the basin. The CoR recommends that all local authorities within a flood plain should be obliged to take an active part in the process of planning new measures. He feels that the European Commission's monitoring and information centre on civil protection could play a part in raising awareness among them but also among the public. Furthermore, the authorities should be involved in the identification, publicising and promotion of best practice proposed by the Commission. The Committee also stresses the need to adopt an integrated approach, taking account of the multi-disciplinary aspect of earth management policies. Lastly, the CoR stresses that the success of the action programme on flood protection depends on a sufficient level of funding. Structural funds could be made available, as was the case for the Interreg Rhine-Meuse programme, which focussed mainly on flood protection and valley management, the CoR press release adds.