Implementation of the EU Floods Directive

In September 2007 a Directive of the European parliament and of the Council on the assessment and management of flood risks (EU Floods Directive, EFD) was adopted by the European Council. The aim of the Directive is to reduce and manage the risks that floods pose to human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity.

The Directive requires Member States to first carry out a preliminary flood risk assessment by 2011 to identify areas at risk of flooding. For such areas they would then need to draw up flood risk maps by 2013 and establish flood risk management plans focused on prevention, protection and preparedness by 2015. The Directive applies to inland waters as well as all coastal waters across the whole territory of the EU.

The Directive shall be carried out in coordination with the Water Framework Directive, notably by flood risk management plans and river basin management plans being coordinated, and through coordination of the public participation procedures in the preparation of these plans. All assessments, maps and plans prepared shall be made available to the public.

Member States shall furthermore coordinate their flood risk management practices in shared river basins, including with third counties, and shall in solidarity not undertake measures that would increase the flood risk in neighbouring countries. Member States shall take into consideration long term developments, including climate change, as well as sustainable land use practices in the flood risk management cycle addressed in this Directive.

EFD & ICPDR

The implementation of the EFD in the Danube River Basin District can be looked upon as a follow-up to the activities which were carried outunder the ICPDR Action Programme on Sustainable Flood Protection in the Danube River Basin. At the ICPDR Ministerial Meeting in 2010 the Danube Declaration was adopted in which the Danube Ministers reaffirmed conviction that flood prevention and protection are not short term tasks but permanent tasks of highest priority. The countries committed themselves to make all efforts to implement the EU Floods Directive throughout the whole Danube River Basin and to develop one single international Flood Risk Management Plan or a set of flood risk management plans, based upon the ICPDR Action Programme for Sustainable Flood Protection and the sub-basin plans, coordinated at the level of the international river basin district by 2015 making full use of the existing synergies with the Danube River Basin Management Plan.

Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment

The first milestone in the EFD implementation at the basin-wide level is undertaking a preliminary flood risk assessment (PFRA) in accordance with the EFD Article 4 and identification of those areas for which it has been concluded that potential significant flood risks exist or might be considered likely to occur (so called Areas of Potential Significant Flood Risk (APSFR)) in accordance with the EFD Article 5. The PFRA must be completed by 22 December 2011 and made available to the European Commission by 22 March 2012.

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