eunbil · GT0N1411 · 2006-06-21 00:00:00 — THE EUROPEAN UNION , 15 2006 2006/0005 (COD) 10456/06 from : General to : Council No. doc.: 10189/06 ENV 339 CODEC 589 No. : 5540/06 ENV 37 CODEC 58 - COM(2006) 15 final Subject : Proposal for a Directive of Parliament and of assessment and management of flood risks The Commission submitted its proposal to 2006. The proposal is based on Article 175(1) of the Treaty. The objective of the draft Directive is to reduce and manage flood-related risks to human health, the environment, and economic assets. It applies to the whole Community territory, and therefore to flood risk management in both rivers and zones. The proposed Directive provides for flood mapping in all areas with a significant flood risk, for producing and implementing flood risk management plans in vulnerable river basins and areas, as well as for a coordination mechanism within the river basins districts. It provides the flexibility for Member States to determine the objectives for the management of flood risks required and the measures to be taken to achieve these objectives. A close link with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive is foreseen. Parliament and the Economic and delivered their Opinions on 13 2006 and 17 2006 respectively. decided on 27 February 2006 not to deliver an opinion. (Environment) took note of the state of play and held a short exchange of views on the proposal at its session on 9 2006. examined the proposal on 12 and on 13 2006 finding a solution to a number of outstanding issues. The latest Presidency compromise suggestions, with footnotes illustrating delegations" positions, can be found in the Addendum to this Note. An outline of the main outstanding issues can be found in Section II, while other open questions are listed in Section III of this Note. All delegations and the Commission maintain a general scrutiny reservation on the Presidency compromise; XX, XX, XXand the XX have a parliamentary scrutiny reservation. is invited to examine and solve the remaining open issues with the aim of reaching a political agreement on the proposal. Timetables and deadlines - Articles 4(3), 7(5), 9(5), 13, 16a, 16b(2) and 19; (footnotes 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) The present compromise foresees that, following publication and entry into force, Member States should: implement the Directive two years after entry into force (Article 19); complete the preliminary flood risk assessment three years after entry into force (Article 4(3)); complete the flood hazard and risk maps by (Article 7(5)); complete and publish the flood risk management plans by (Article 9(5)); review and if necessary update the preliminary risk assessment by and every six years thereafter (Article 16b (1)); review and if necessary update the flood hazard and risk maps and the flood risk management plans by and every six years thereafter (Article 16b(2)). In order to take account of work already undertaken on flood risk management, the compromise includes a new Article 16a on transitional measures, which foresees, among others, that Member States may decide: (i) not to undertake the preliminary flood risk assessment if a number of decisions (set out in Article 16a(1)) have already been taken prior to the date referred to in Article 19; (ii) to make use of existing flood hazard maps and flood risk maps, finalised prior to the date referred to in Article 19 (at conditions set out in Article 16a(2)); (iii) to make use of flood risk management plans finalised prior to the date referred to in Article 19 (at conditions set out in Article 16a(3)). In this context: XX/XX/XX/XX/XXconsider that the completion of the preliminary risk assessment (b) should take place five years after entry into force, XX suggesting, as an alternative, the date of 2012 (footnote 4); XX/XX consider that the completion of flood hazard and risk maps (c) should take place in 2015 and that completion of flood risk management plans (d) should take place in 2017 (footnote 5); The Commission has a reservation on the above suggestions, considering that the need to operate in line with the timetables of the Water Framework Directive, thus ensuring coordination and consistency, is of high priority. The Commission also maintains a reservation on Article 13 (footnote 7) where it is considered that the close coordination with the Water Framework Directive originally proposed has been weakened. In addition, the Commission, supported by XX/XX, has a reservation on the present compromise text as regards the indication of a single deadline for reviewing the flood hazard and risk maps and the flood risk management plans (f) and recalls the importance of allowing sufficient time for the consultation of the public and interested parties. It is suggested to indicate, as in the original proposal, 2019 for reviewing the flood hazard and risk maps and 2021 for reviewing the flood risk management plans (footnote 11). As regards Article 16a on transitional measures: XX asks to apply the provisions concerning existing flood hazard maps, flood risk maps and flood management plans also in the case where these have been undertaken prior to the related deadline (footnote 9). XX asks to specify that, if the transitional measures concerning maps and plans apply, Member States will not be obliged to produce new maps and plans (footnote 10). XX asks to delete the reference to a cut-off date or to add five years with respect to the date of entry into force. The Presidency, in its latest compromise, proposes as a cut-off date "the date referred to in Article 19" throughout Article 16a, i.e. two years following the date of entry into force. The Commission maintains a reservation on this Article (footnote 8). The scope of the proposal - Article 1 (footnote 2) The proposal is envisaged to apply to the management of flood risks in the whole territory of the Community. This includes both river basins and areas which are shared between Member States and those which exclusively belong to the territory of one . The XX/XX/XX/XX delegations do not consider that this coverage is in conformity with the principle of subsidiarity, and suggests to limit the scope of the Directive to trans-boundary (shared) river basins and areas where flood risk management actions by one could have an impact on neighbouring countries. The Commission, supported by XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX/XX, considers that the principle of subsidiarity is respected and does not agree with a limitation in the scope of the proposal. Several delegations and the Commission could support as a compromise the addition of a reference to trans-national cooperation as suggested by XX (footnote 2). Article 4(2)(c) - XX/XX and the Commission have a reservation on the addition of "where appropriate" in the chapeau of this paragraph. The other delegations do not share this view (footnote 3). Article 9(1) - XX/XX ask to add a reference to sub-basins in this paragraph; the Commission and other delegations cannot support this request (footnote 6). Article 17 - The Commission has a reservation on the deletion of the obligation to provide interim progress reports on the management plans every three years. The other delegations prefer the Presidency compromise on this point (footnote 12). Directive 2000/60/EC of Parliament and of 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (O.J. L 327 of 22.12.2000). 10456/06 UNOFFICIAL CM/pc DG I LIMITEEN