WRITTEN QUESTION E-0071/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 January 2003)

Subject: Storage of peak discharges of river water and fair burden sharing between upper and lower reaches of rivers in Member States

1. Does the Commission consider that flooding of European rivers can no longer be regarded as isolated incidents but as a growing structural problem caused by the felling of forests, draining of agricultural land, canalisation and narrowing of the upper reaches of rivers, the more rapid melting of glaciers in the Alps, higher rainfall as a result of global warming caused by the greenhouse effect, the settlement of land and the 1,2 cm a year rise in the sea level?

2. Is the Commission aware that many of these problems originate in the upper reaches of the rivers Oder, Elbe, Rhine, Maas, Scheldt and Danube, whereas so far virtually the entire responsibility for finding solutions has been left to the countries in the lower reaches of these rivers, which means that some present or future Member States of the EU are passing the problems on to other Member States?

3. Is the Commission aware that, as a last resort to protect towns from flooding, the Netherlands is investigating the possibility of using ten thousand hectares of low-lying farmland and nature protection areas as a water storage area when the Rhine and Maas are at high water, as a result of which farms and even whole villages will disappear. The cost of creating this water storage area will be EUR 15 billion in addition to the EUR 4,5 billion required for major works to protect the coast and river banks?

4. What possibilities are there of using the EU Disaster Fund (solidarity fund) in the near future for preventive measures designed to increase significantly the possibilities of holding rain water and melt water in the ground longer in the upper reaches of rivers, thereby preventing ever-increasing peaks in water discharges leading to more frequent and worse disasters in the lower reaches and the need for countries located in the lower reaches to take extremely expensive measures for which there is no public support?

5. What other measures does the Commission envisage to ensure fairer burden sharing of efforts and costs between the upper and lower reaches of cross-border rivers in the Member States concerned?

Source: Netherlands 1 TV channel, Zembla programme, 2 January 2003, The new water crisis.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(10 March 2003)

1. to 3. and 5. Within the river basins addressed by the Honourable Member (Oder, Elbe, Rhine, Maas, Schelde and Danube) International River Conventions have been established. The Community is Contracting Party in most of them, whilst observer status prevails in the case of Maas and Schelde. These Conventions do have flood prevention among their statutory objectives and are actively involved in addressing flood prevention and flood protection(1). Assessments done, and action agreed within these Conventions, do inter alia address the question of upstream downstream cooperation and sharing of responsibilities. The Rhine Action Plan Flood Protection, agreed within the International Rhine Commission, is an example of such an agreement, currently being implemented.

Following legislative decisions by the Parliament and the Council, the Community has recently restructured its water policy by the Water Framework Directive(2). Whilst it will contribute to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts (cf. article 1(e)), it does not per se set operational targets for flood prevention and flood protection, not least with a view to the legal basis of article 175(1) of the EC Treaty.

However, the Commission, Member States and Candidate Countries have in 2002 started comprehensive cooperation on the issue of flooding. Beyond the formal scope of the Water Framework Directive, exchange of information, knowledge and experience on flood prevention and flood protection will, in first step during 2003, lead to a joint document on best practices in flood prediction, prevention and mitigation. Whilst flood events have been occurring across Europe for centuries, and will continue to occur, the impacts of such events have in many cases drastically increased, due to human activities such as cutting off rivers from their natural floodplains, changed land-use and increasing sealing of surface, designation of areas for housing and/or economic activities in areas with a potential of flooding.

At the same time the Commission is working on a horizontal initiative addressing environmental risks (forest fires, earthquakes, flood events, technological risks etc.), with a Commission Communication foreseen during the first half of 2003. Following discussion on this Communication and the collating of best practices, the Commission will consider need and scope of possible legislative frameworks.

The Commission has been supporting European research on floods throughout its Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development(3). During the Fifth Framework programme (1999-2002) over 30 multi-national projects were financed under the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme. Advances has been made particularly in the areas of flood forecasting and flood risk in relation to climate change. Research under the Global Change Priority of the Sixth Framework Programme (2003-2006) focusses on a more holistic approach in which flood hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment are addressed in an integrated manner with the aim of mitigating the evironmental, social and economic effects of floods. In addition, research is also to be performed in the context of improved integrated watershed management strategies, and where relevant, taking into account the transboundary nature and impacts of floods.

In parallel, the Commission's Joint Research Centre has developed a flood prediction and modelling instrument for the Oder river basin. This instrument is now, as a basis for flood defence strategies in river basins across administrative and political borders, to be applied to and made operational for the Elbe and Danube basins and to other European basins.

In the context of Community funding, the Community Initiative Interreg III of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the period 2000-2006 can, on the operational level, contribute to support ongoing actions at international level for flood prevention and protection. In particular its strand B, for transnational co-operation, promotes the good management of natural resources, in particular water resources, following an integrated spatial planning approach. Further, the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), through its second pillar (Rural Development Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of the Council of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain regulations)(4) can already finance measures which have a particular relevance for flood prevention if Member States choose to include such measures into their Rural Development programmes. Currently, some of these programmes foresee direct or indirect measures for the prevention or reduction of environmental risks. Measures that will help to increase the water retention capacity of the soil (e.g. afforestation of arable land, maintenance of grassland, organic matter incorporation) will have a direct reduction effect on floods. Likewise, any measure aimed at climate change mitigation (e.g. promotion of renewable energies such as bio-gas, reduction of animal stocking) is likely to have a positive (indirect) effect, since it is suspected that global warming contributes to increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.

For the future, the Commission proposals for a CAP reform, as set out in a Communication(5) recently published would, if adopted, result in an increased budget being available through pillar II, which Member States could use to increase their support for risk prevention activities. This would be brought about by using modulation to shift money from pillar I to pillar II. The introduction of mandatory cross-compliance for farmers receiving direct payments will reinforce the respect of statutory management requirements and the maintenance of good agricultural conditions, which comprise e.g. anti-erosion measures. It is proposed to exclude changes in the land use of permanent pastures, in particular no conversion to arable land. The single payment scheme can contribute to extensification, which would have positive consequences e.g. on water retention capacity of soils. The CAP reform proposals also introduce support for energy crops (pillar I) with a view to achieving carbon dioxide substitution.

4. The European Union Solidarity fund (EUSF)(6) was created to give immediate financial assistance in the event of a major disaster to help people, regions and countries concerned to return to living conditions that are as normal as possible.

Intervention can only take place to help finance making good public damage not covered by insurance. The EUSF can not be utilised to fund long-term preventive measures. In the context of disasters eligible for EUSF assistance the funding of preventive measures is only permissible in the case of essential emergency operations for the immediate

securing of preventive infrastructures and measures of immediate protection of the cultural heritage. Countries that receive assistance from the Solidarity Fund are obliged to submit a report to the Commission not later than 18 months after the date of disbursement of the grant. This report shall detail the preventive measures introduced or proposed by the beneficiary State in order to limit damage and to avoid, to the extent possible, a recurrence of similar disasters.

(1) Rhine: action plan flood protection adopted, implementation ongoing. Elbe: flood protection strategy adopted, draft action programme currently validated following the 2002 flood disaster, adoption foreseen end-2003. Danube river: minimisation of impacts of floods as part of the adopted action programme, follow-up evaluation ongoing. Maas and Scheldt: flood prevention and protection as key part of the recently signed new Conventions.

(2) Directive 2000/60/EC of the Parliament and of the Council, of 23.10.2000 OJ L 327, 22.12.2000.

(3) SEC(2002) 907, COM(2002) 481.

(4) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.

(5) COM(2003) 23 final.

(6) Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund OJ L 311, 14.11.2002.