Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Natural disasters (fires, floods and droughts)
Date: 2006-04-26
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU action, EU policy, Structural Funds, aid policy, civil defence, natural disaster

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calls upon all policy actors,

including the Member
10.12
States, the Commission and the private sector, to adopt a long-
term plan with a view to supporting a significant increase in
marine environmental research funding, thereby ensuring that
there be sufficient funding for the investigation of the marine
environment;

believes that local and regional governments, being
10.13
closest to the citizens, can achieve significant results in provid-
ing information and winning the support of the general public;

in this respect, offers to play a significant role as
10.14
partner
to the Commission and the Member States, and
recommends a long-term EU-funded information campaign
involving local and regional authorities.

Brussels, 26 April 2006

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Natural disasters (fires, floods and droughts)

(2006/C 0206/03)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the decision of the European Parliament of 4 April 2006 to consult it on this subject,
under the fourth paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to the decision of
its President of 23 March 2006 to appoint Mr Valcárcel Siso,
President of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, as rapporteur-general for this subject, in accordance
with Rule 40(2) of its Rules of Procedure;

Having regard to its opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament,
the Council,
the Regions on
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
Reinforcing the civil protection capacity of European Union (COM(2004) 200 final – CdR 241/2003 fin (1));

Whereas:

1)

2)

3)

Natural disasters, forest fires, floods and droughts represent a growing threat to human life, have
a powerful impact on the balanced development of the regions, threaten their economic resources
and natural and cultural heritage, give rise to population movements and undermine the economic
activity and quality of life of the inhabitants of the regions concerned;

Natural disasters recognise no borders and,
common risks is now essential;

therefore, cooperation between areas exposed to

The consequences of climate change, such as desertification, erosion and salinisation, affect all the
Member States, albeit to different degrees, and the European Union must view the minimisation of
natural disasters as a key component of sustainable development;

(1) OJ C 43 of 18.2.2005, p. 38.

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4)

5)

6)

The principle of economic, social and territorial cohesion must underpin every stage of planning,
programming and implementing Community policies to prevent and manage natural disasters and
to offset their impact on the regions and cities of the Union affected;

Measures to protect against natural disasters must be adopted as part of all the relevant Community
infrastructure and
policies, especially those which affect rural communities and the environment,
research and development policy;

The EU Solidarity Fund has proved insufficient in cases of natural disaster, this situation being
aggravated by the lack of coordination between existing instruments at national and regional level
in the various Member States;

adopted unanimously the following opinion at its 64th plenary session, held on 26 and 27 April
2006 (meeting of 26 April):

Views and recommendations of
Regions

the Committee of

the

the conditions leading to disasters or worsening their conse-
quences and effects;

The Committee of the Regions:

is concerned to note the significant

1.
increase in the
number, severity and intensity of natural disasters occurring
over recent years in the regions of the European Union;

2. welcomes the European Parliament's interest in natural
disasters;

forms of natural
the importance of other
3. warns of
disaster such as earthquakes, tidal waves, tsunamis, volcanic
eruptions and other geological events, together with phenom-
ena arising from climate change and global warming causing
rising sea levels along our coastlines,
in turn leading to
inhabited areas and loss of
shrinking beaches,
infrastructure and amenities; points also to the dangers linked
with extreme snow and freezing conditions;

flooding of

they play a full part

points out that regional and local authorities, as the
4.
bodies closest to the general public, are the first to be affected
by, and involved in, natural disasters, and that it is essential
that
implementing and
monitoring policies and actions to deal with natural disasters;
every EU country should therefore ensure that the regions and
municipalities have access to sensible and effective legal, mate-
rial and economic tools to enable them to carry out
their
duties;

in drafting,

recalls that Community action must complement action
5.
by national,
regional and local authorities, and urges the
Commission to redirect Community action towards the various
levels of government;

considers it crucial

6.
solidarity,
that
cooperation, coordination and assistance between EU Member
States, regions and local authorities should be applied in full in
order to plan for and prevent natural disasters, and to mini-
mise and counter their effects;

the principles of

underlines the need for a firm commitment on the part
7.
of both public administrations and the general public to reduce

8.
supports the call by the European Parliament to draw up
a European strategy to combat natural disasters (fires, flood
and drought), in connection with the various financial instru-
ments with which to implement such a strategy, ensuring the
allocation of EU funds in the field of civil protection, devoting
particular attention to island and outermost regions with low
demographic density, as well as those which,
inherent
structural reasons, are especially hard hit by such events;

for

9.
calls on the Community institutions to consider whether
it might be appropriate for the strategy to include earthquakes
and the associated phenomena, together with volcanic erup-
tions, on account of their capacity to have catastrophic con-
sequences;

10.
urges that the strategy should take a holistic approach
to natural disasters, including preventive measures (risk analysis
and correction), planning and implementing measures (func-
tional organisation, mobilisation of resources, etc.) and recov-
ery and follow-up measures;

highlights the importance of every stage of the strategy
11.
including information, training and citizen awareness measures
concerning disaster
risks and action plans, paying special
attention to children and young people and other population
sectors particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, such as the
elderly and those of reduced mobility;

12.
draws attention to the important role of the media in
building up properly-informed public opinion which can act
effectively to prevent and reduce the losses caused by disasters;

13.
recommends that efforts focus on setting up the in-
formation systems needed to improve the forecasting, follow-
up and evaluation of all natural disasters; supports in parti-
cular the European Parliament's comments in favour of press-
ing ahead with the Galileo system and broadening the scope of
the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative
to cover all natural disasters;

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believes that

the 7th Framework Programme for re-
14.
search and development must step up research into preventing
disasters by funding initiatives to develop prediction models
and to enhance early warning systems;

15.
recommends that national and regional rural develop-
ment plans should give priority to measures designed to head
off the causes of disasters (such as preventing erosion, refor-
estation with appropriate species, water supply works,
tree
felling and forest surveillance, and agroenvironmental water-
saving measures);

and/or natural phenomena on the basis of each country's
unique circumstances;;

asks for the Community civil protection mechanism to
24.
be reinforced and, to this end, supports the proposal by the
European Parliament
the Monitoring and Information
Centre under the Community mechanism be enhanced and
recommends that compatible models for action or combating
every type of disaster be prepared, enabling better coordination
of national and regional disaster management mechanisms;

that

recalls that in order to reduce the frequency and scale
16.
of fires, the European Union must concentrate its efforts on
combating the causes of fires by means of appropriate forestry
surveillance and prevention measures, and urges the Commis-
sion to ensure that existing Community legislation in this field
is applied properly;

believes that consideration should be given to creating
25.
a European Civil Protection Force, and stresses that the Mem-
ber States should seek ways of ensuring adequate interoper-
ability between civil and military forces, recommending that
emergency military units be integrated into the Community
civil protection system;

regrets that

17.
Forest Focus programme do not
issues in the new LIFE + programme;

the fire prevention measures under the
the priority
form part of

18.
emphasises the worsening drought, which has been
expanding in duration and intensity to many regions of the
European Union, whose water resources have recently shrunk
dramatically, with serious social, environmental and economic
implications;

26.
generally welcomes the new Solidarity Fund proposal,
with the inclusion of major crisis situations resulting from
industrial/technological disasters, public health threats and acts
of terrorism; however, it urges the Commission to reconsider
the threshold of EUR 1 billion or 0.5% of GNI, to ensure that
procedures are sufficiently flexible, transparent and straightfor-
ward, and to take account of the specific needs of the areas
affected and the regional dimension of certain natural phenom-
ena;

19. welcomes the initiative presented by a number of
Member States to the EU Council of Ministers for the Environ-
ment on the management of drought-related risks, and calls
on the European Commission to take the necessary steps to
enhance the level of protection against drought and reduce the
potential risk to citizens, the economy and the environment;

27.
calls for the explicit inclusion of drought as an eligible
phenomenon under the Solidarity Fund, given that it is a long-
term structural problem, cannot readily be reconciled with the
established registration deadlines, and has serious repercussions
the affected
for
regions; also urges that the Fund continue to provide support
in the event of exceptional local emergencies;

the social and economic development of

20.
recommends the establishment of a European Drought
and Desertification Observatory, as part of the 7th Framework
Programme for research and development, together with the
adoption of measures to raise awareness regarding sustainable
use of water;

21.
is convinced that, given the severity and intensity of
the natural disasters of the past few years, it is essential to step
up measures in the sphere of spatial planning and give greater
importance to integrated territorial actions in rural areas;

22. welcomes the draft directive on the assessment and
management of floods; and points out that the major flood-
ing which occurs in Mediterranean basins as a result of the
torrential nature of rainfall and flash floods should not be
overlooked; at the same time, it must be remembered that the
flooding situation for some other EU countries is completely
different and custom solutions are consequently required;

demands to ensure a good coordination between exist-
23.
ing and future directives on management of natural resources

points out that the Structural Funds are an essential
28.
tool
for funding disaster prevention and management mea-
sures; believes, in this regard, that the lack of synergy between
the Structural Funds and the Solidarity Fund must be resolved
by putting the theoretical ‘from reconstruction to development’
approach into practice, entailing the involvement of local and
regional authorities as part of natural disaster governance;

urges that in the next financial programming period
29.
2007-2013,
the necessary flexibility and redistribution of
resources between funds is assured, together with the possibi-
lity of reusing resources released by the Structural Funds' N+2
rule, so that the regions can, where they consider appropriate,
boost the resources available in the event of a disaster;

in consequence,

repeats that no real strategy against agricultural disas-
30.
ters can be restricted to short-term emergency measures and
must,
information and pre-
include training,
vention activities,
to be financed by the Forest Focus pro-
gramme, rural development policy, the European Social Fund,
and the creation of EU-funded public insurance;

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considers that the INTERREG initiative has proved to
31.
be highly effective in exchanging best practice on natural
disaster prevention and refers, in this respect, to the examples
set out in appendix and welcomes the increase in the budget
allocated to territorial cooperation adopted in the context of
the agreement on the new financial framework for 2007 –
2013;

32.
indicates that the establishment of the European group-
ings of cross-border cooperation, invested with legal personal-
ity, may enhance the implementation of civil protection mea-
sures;

supports the European Parliament's call for State aids
33.
or European Investment Bank loans to be used in the event of
natural disasters;

urges the European Commission, the European Parlia-
34.
ment and the Council to take account of the views of local
and regional authorities when planning all types of initiatives
regarding natural disasters, carrying out an effective process of
prior consultation with those directly responsible for disaster
management.

Brussels, 26 April 2006.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE

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APPENDIX

EXAMPLES OF BEST PRACTICE ON NATURAL DISASTER PREVENTION

1. ESCAPE - European Solutions by Co-operation and Planning in Emergencies (for coastal flooding)

flooding, partners from the most affected areas in the United Kingdom, the
In order to mitigate the impact of
Netherlands and Belgium launched the ESCAPE project. This project went beyond prevention and risk management and
sought to improve spatial planning policies, risk management strategies, contingency plans and public awareness so that
flood-related damage to coastal communities could be minimised.

One main activity consisted of an awareness-raising campaign on flooding. Videos, conferences and a newspaper were
used to help children and adults, the local population and professionals to understand flood-related hazards. The
campaign also explained what could be expected from governments, and how people could help themselves. Another
important activity involved developing a flexible, multifunctional contingency plan for protecting the local inhabitants,
tourists and businesses in flood situations. A cross-border framework for contingency planning is available for others to
use.

ESCAPE has also built and tested a High Water Information System (HIS) for sea floods, which monitors tides, wind
force and wave height. This system has been integrated with a Decision Support System (DSS) that estimates the time
required to evacuate a disaster area and recommends evacuation routes using data such as road capacity and
demography. Local, regional and national authorities responsible for both contingency planning and spatial planning
can use HIS and DSS to predict the effects and timing of sea floods. http://www.interregnorthsea.org/project-details.asp?
id=1-16-31-7-526-02

2. AWARE - Attention to warning and readiness in emergencies

One of
the conclusions reached by the ESCAPE project was that, since emergencies do not recognise borders,
contingency planning should not stop at the border either. AWARE can be regarded as a successor of ESCAPE.
Whereas ESCAPE is restricted to flooding, AWARE includes other fields. The project’s defining feature is crosscutting
cooperation for natural and manmade disasters to improve the quality of contingency planning and encourage risk
awareness amongst civilians.

AWARE focuses on raising awareness so as to reduce the vulnerability of people in cross-border regions during and
following a disaster by improving information and communication sources and channels. In order to make people, the
media, the authorities and emergency services more aware of the risks involved and how to act and react in disaster
situations, two sustainable awareness campaigns for youth and professionals will be conducted; followed by a report on
arrangements with the media regarding their coverage of disasters in different countries and a feasibility study on a tool
enabling authorities to inform relatives and friends of victims about their current residence once a disaster has occurred.
AWARE also focuses on the contents and structure of information and communication between local and regional
authorities in cross-border regions before, during and after a disaster. The aim is for local governments to take into
account the cross-border implications of their decisions and to make sure they inform the authorities across the border.
By sharing knowledge and experience through information exchange and lessons learnt, partners will produce a report,
including recommendations, on a virtual cross-border crisis management system and two interregional expert meetings
on crisis management and disaster relief. The final objective of the project is the enhancement of the quality of disaster
relief in cross-border areas through staff exchanges among participating regions and regional and cross-border exercises
(at authority level only) with cross-border component/interregional observers. www.project-aware.com

3. Chain of Safety, a flood contingency planning initiative covering the entire North Sea Region

Since disasters do not stop at regional or national borders, nor should risk and crisis management. The European
Commission has recognised that this is an issue and is currently developing several initiatives for a European approach
towards contingency planning in cooperation with the Member States. Chain of Safety aims to contribute the North Sea
Region's perspective to these initiatives by launching a project to set up a structure for flood contingency planning
based on the chain-of-safety model and covering the entire North Sea Region. The project aims to facilitate cooperation,

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experience sharing and mutual assistance in the North Sea Region in the event of flooding by pooling knowledge and
experience on coastal flooding through a safety chain connecting the entire North Sea Region, in order to optimise
intra-regional cooperation amongst the North Sea regions so as to minimise the number of casualties and damage
caused by coastal flooding. The overall objective of the project is to initiate a flood contingency plan covering the
whole North Sea area. This would be in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, in order to pool the participating
regions' examples of best practice and experience.

The activities within the Chain of Safety project can be divided into three main themes: a comparative analysis of the
existing regional and national flood plans in the North Sea Regions; defining a common approach towards the Chain
of Safety in the North Sea Region; and an inventory of required and available equipment for putting into practice
a common contingency plan for flooding.

4. Improvement of the Joint Research Centre's knowledge base NEDIES (Natural and Environmental Disaster

Information Exchange System)

The protection of citizens and the environment in Europe faces a continuing challenge from a wide range of risks that
arise from natural hazards. Therefore, the lessons learned from the systematic analysis of the evolution of past disasters
and the circumstances contributing to their occurrence are of paramount importance for future risk reduction and
priority setting in terms of vulnerability management. The widespread application and publicising of the lessons learned
is another vital step towards combating the occurrence of undesirable events and in particular, mitigating their
the Joint Research Centre (JRC) maintains the Natural and Environmental
consequences.
Disaster Information Exchange System (NEDIES), whose aim is the preparation and dissemination of lessons learned for
the prevention of, and preparedness and response to, natural disasters and technological accidents. The reports on
natural disasters contained in the Nedies system are available through a web portal.

In support of

this goal,

With a view to enhancing and extending the Nedies knowledge base, which contains disaster-related data including
lessons learned, a better structured and more thorough understanding of the circumstances of a disaster is required so
as to be able to provide detailed and valuable input to decision making. As part of a study commissioned by the JRC
and the European Commission, the Faculty of the University of Zeeland (the Netherlands) is developing a scheme for
the structured analysis and mapping of the unfolding of a disaster over time, disaster management actions taken before,
during and after the event, and the actors, environment and other parameters affecting the efficiency of management.
The purpose is to provide sufficiently structured input to facilitate the extraction of lessons learned. The findings from
this analysis will be placed in the framework of the ‘safety chain’. As a result the interrelated consequences in each stage
will become visible.

5. INTERREG IIIA – Italy/Slovenia: SIMIS project for a connected monitoring system of the Isonzo - Soča

river

This project aims to improve the monitoring system of the Isonzo basin, thus increasing the safety of the population
against floods. It also serves to improve supranational safety measures, reinforce cooperation between Friuli Venezia
Giulia and Slovenia, and use innovative technical means. To attain these objectives, the operational centres of Palmanova
and Lublijana have been interconnected, and common protocols for intervention in case of an emergency established.
A thorough study of the hydrological basin has also been carried out, and advanced monitoring units have been
installed in the most critical points of the basin so as to forecast and prevent floods. http://www.simis.si

6. Interregional Protocol for cross-border cooperation on civil protection – Friuli-Venezia Giulia/Carinthia –

Slovenia

The civil protection organisations of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia autonomous region and of the Carinthia region of the
Republic of Slovenia are aware of the natural or man-made risks which could affect the populations and of the need to
provide swift mutual assistance in the event of emergencies. They are also determined to step up and encourage cross-
border cooperation in the civil protection sector. They have consequently expressed their willingness to seek maximum
mutual cooperation and to coordinate efficiently in interventions required to protect neighbouring populations, assets,
settlements and the environment in the event of emergencies or expected emergencies,
including forest fires. Cross-
border cooperation protocols lay down shared operational methods for disaster forecasting and prevention, exchange of
data in real time, and rapid communication of information on emergency situations, mutual assistance in the event of
emergencies, and coordination of rescue operations to the affected neighbouring populations.

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In order to implement forecasting, prevention and information exchange activities of common interest in the field of
civil protection, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia autonomous region and the Carinthia region of the Republic of Slovenia are
linking up their reference operational centres. These links serve to ensure rapid two-way communication of all
important information and enable exchange of know-how and training efforts. These regions have also agreed to link
up their own reference operational centres by means of an effective data transmission and reception system between the
operational centres, for real-time two-way exchange of important data from the seismic, hydrometeorological and sea
and coastal meteorological monitoring networks installed across their territory, and to provide a dedicated videoconfer-
encing link between the reference operational centres.

The regions are committed to rapid two-way communication between the reference operational centres of potential or
actual emergencies which might endanger neighbouring populations, assets, settlements or
in
proximity to border areas. They provide for regular meetings between the various bodies' technical personnel. They
have also set up arrangements for exchange of know-how on significant technical and scientific advances in civil
protection, in part by launching joint projects to be applied in the sphere of forecasting preventing natural risks. They
hold joint training and simulation exercises to familiarise themselves with each others' emergency operational methods.
In the event of emergencies on their own territory which may affect neighbouring populations, the regions can call for
mutual assistance through the reference operational centres. Mutual assistance,
in line with available resources, may
include dispatch of specialist personnel, volunteer units with appropriate equipment and vehicles, aircraft and types of
assistance to affected neighbouring populations, or any other steps which may help to deal with the emergency. The
regions have agreed to cooperate on measures to extinguish forest fires in border areas. Mutual assistance is provided
free of charge.

the environment

7. DESERTNET – Measures to monitor and combat desertification in the European Mediterranean area

The purpose of ‘Desertnet’ is the study, monitoring and sustainable management of areas at risk of desertification in the
Mediterranean basin. The project aims to rationalise the information and technical-scientific experience which has been
acquired and compiled regarding areas identified as being at risk by regional and national programmes. A platform of
services, a network of pilot actions and users, and an interregional anti-desertification observatory are to be created in
order to help set up a uniform system for exchanging data and information, and for controlling desertification
processes.

Under ‘Desertnet’, a network of pilot actions has been set up, designed to launch a methods standardisation process
based on a comparison of experiences in several regions. The network has taken the form of a platform of services, as
a result of which a database of methods, models and available data in the partner regions has been created. In the
future, this structure should also provide for more straightforward management of activities and cooperation in projects
and other aspects. It will serve as a benchmark for the most widely-adopted and shared methods. Further ahead, the
partners have undertaken to promote the services platform, mainly by increasing the number of users. This expansion
should make the platform a virtual
forum for sharing know-how, by bringing in the national anti-desertification
committees in addition to the users.

The partner regions are the Italian regions of Liguria, Campania, Calabria, Tuscany, Sicily, Emilia Romagna, Basilicata
and Sardinia, and the Spanish autonomous regions of Murcia and Andalusia (www.desertnet.org).

8. ROBINWOOD – Revitalisation of country and mountain areas through sustainable development by means

of integrated forestry management

Robinwood is a project co-financed by the European Commission under the Interreg III C South programme. The
project has as its objective the socio-economic development of country areas through the revitalisation of the wood
supply chain. The project intends to apply an innovative approach based on the Sustainable Forest Management,
combining planning, environmental, energy, territorial, economic and occupational aspects.

The Robinwood project includes five main themes:

— Programme coordination and management

— Soil maintenance: aiming at finding solutions that will assist in erosion prevention, landslide control and floods,

through forestry management.

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— Forestry resources: aiming at better forestry management through the exchange of best practice and solutions to the
problems of forestry certification, management and planning. The component will conclude with the preparation of
an operational plan for forestry management by partner regions, which will evaluate economic and environmental
sustainability of forestry management processes.

— Energy: aiming at

resource.

increasing the use of

forestry biomass to produce CO2 neutral energy from a sustainable

— Communication: aiming at taking new developments to country and mountains areas of

the partner regions.
Communication is an essential tool for promoting ‘excellence’ and spreading good practice among the regional
partners.

The participating regions are: Liguria (Italy), Brandenburg (Germany), the Autonomous Region of Murcia (Spain), Wales
(Great Britain), Eastern Pomerania (Poland), and Eastern Slovakia (Autonomous Regions of Košice and Prešov – Republic
of Slovakia).