Brussels, 18/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 18 January, the European Commission unveiled a draft directive to help Member States prevent and limit floods and their damaging effects on human health, the environment, infrastructure and property.
The proposal creates an EU framework for flood risk management that builds on and is closely coordinated with the 2000 Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), the cornerstone of EU water protection policy. A three-step process is proposed. First, Member states will undertake a preliminary flood risk assessment of their river basins and associated coastal zones. Where real risks of flood damage exist, member states shall then develop flood risk maps. Finally, flood risk management plans must be drawn up for these zones.
The management plans are to include measures to reduce the probability of flooding and its potential consequences. They will address all phases of the flood risk management cycle but focus particularly on prevention (such as preventing damage caused by floods by avoiding construction of houses and industries in present and future flood-prone areas or by adapting future developments to the risk of flooding) protection (by taking measures to reduce the likelihood of floods and/or the impact of floods in a specific location such as restoring flood plains and wetlands) and preparedness (for instance through providing instructions to the public on what to do in the event of flooding)).
In a press release, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “Catastrophic floods endanger lives and are likely to cause human tragedy as well as heavy economic losses. This new directive will help Member States chose the right tools with which to reduce the likelihood of floods and limit their impacts. In particular, it aims to ensure that Member States cooperate in shared river basins and coastal areas to improve flood protection all over Europe.”
The new directive is the European Commission's response to the growing risks of floods as a result of climate change. The scale and frequency of floods is expected to increase in the coming decades, and failure to manage river systems properly can be compounded by building in flood plains (which reduces the area's capacity to absorb flood water). In response to the 2002 floods, the Commission identified the need for EU legislation on flood risk management because most of Europe's river basins are shared by more than one country.
Between 1998 and 2004, Europe suffered over 100 major damaging floods, including the catastrophic floods along the Danube and Elbe rivers in the summer 2002. Severe floods in 2005 further reinforced the need for concerted action. Since 1998 floods in Europe have caused some 700 deaths, the displacement of about half a million people and at least €25 billion in insured economic losses.