Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment and management of floods (COM(2006) 15 final — 2006/0005 (COD))
Date: 2006-05-17
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU programme, environmental policy, environmental risk prevention, flood

18.8.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 195/37

recognised by the ILO in the countries concerned (or the recog-
nised civil society organisations operating in those countries)
— if evaluation shows that the situation has deteriorated. It is
regrettable that the Commission does not refer to this in the
present communication.

4.6
At a general level, the Committee calls on the Commis-
sion and the Member States to show their trading partners that
sustainable development must not be seen as a cost factor, but
rather as a wealth generator both for their economies, where
they aspire to a higher standard of living, and for the planet as
a whole.

Brussels, 17 May 2006

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Anne-Marie SIGMUND

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment and management of floods

(COM(2006) 15 final — 2006/0005 (COD))

(2006/C 195/09)

On 13 February 2006, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 175(1) of
the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned
proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 26 April 2006. The rapporteur was
Ms Sánchez Miguel.

At its 427th plenary session, held on 17 and 18 May 2006 (meeting of 17 May), the European Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 141 votes to none, with three abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1
The EESC welcomes the Commission's Proposal for a
Directive on floods, as called for in the Committee opinion (1)
on the earlier Communication, especially since this proposal
incorporates the methodology and instruments created by the
Water Framework Directive (WFD). With the inclusion in the
river basin plan of flood risk maps and plans, all activities
relating to the management of
inland waterways and the
connected coastal areas are regulated.

1.2
The effectiveness of these arrangements depends heavily
on the preliminary assessment of the situation in the river
basins and associated coastal zones, based on a thorough
analysis of the current situation, especially in those areas at
high risk due to human activity and climate change.

It is also important to place emphasis on actions to
1.3
prevent the harmful effects of flooding,
including all public
information and participation measures. To this end, we call
upon the Commission to make particularly sure that these
arrangements as provided for in Article 14 of the WFD and the
Proposal for a Directive, are included in river basin plans.

(1) Opinion CESE 125/2005, OJ C221 of 8 September 2005.

1.4
The risk management plans and risk mapping, as set out
in the proposal, must be extended. The classification of river
basins at high risk of flooding should incorporate both priority
measures (with adequate funding) and criteria to be met in
order to reduce costs and increase the benefits to people. This
should result in integrated and sustainable activity in flood
areas.

1.5
Lastly, it should be added that, in the context of Com-
munity measures for multidisciplinary research and coordina-
tion, all policies that affect European waters should be strength-
ened.

2. Introduction

2.1
There has always been something missing from Direc-
tive 2000/60/EC and the Water Framework Directive (WFD):
the fixing of an objective to prevent, protect against and miti-
gate the effects of flooding. In fact, in the last decade, the EU
has suffered more than 100 floods, causing great loss of life

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and significant economic losses. The Commission previously
presented a Communication (2) which analysed the situation
and proposed concerted action in the European Union. This
proposal forms part of that action.

2.2
Both the Communication and the proposed Directive
emphasise the need for all actions undertaken in the context of
water policy to be coordinated with other Community policies
for preventing and minimising the effects of flooding. Research
policy, using research projects such as FLOODsite to help
improve integrated flood risk analysis and management meth-
odologies, and regional policy, through the use of the Struc-
tural Funds, in particular the European Regional Development
Fund and the CAP, together with decoupling and cross-compli-
ance (3), form an overall package that can deliver better results
than action on water alone.

2.3
The aim of the proposal is to reduce and manage the
risks of flooding, which affects people's lives and health, their
property, as well as nature and the environment. The incor-
poration of this proposal into the WFD will make it possible to
simplify organisational and administrative procedures, since it
fits in with existing river basin districts, in line with the WFD.
This means that all actions undertaken to prevent and minimise
the risks of flooding should be carried out as part of the river
basin plans for each river and that the responsible authorities
are the same in both cases and take on this new competence.
Furthermore, it is important to note that aligning the timetables
of the new proposal with those previously set out in the WFD
will increase effectiveness.

The EESC agrees with the proposed Directive, which it
2.4
has examined carefully, and notes that it features many of the
suggestions made in the Committee opinion on the 2004
Communication (4). Therefore all
that remains is for us to
emphasise the task that must be carried out by the Commis-
sion; its role in ensuring that the requirements of the WFD are
met is the guarantee that they will be properly implemented by
the authorities in the Member States, without losing sight of
the potentially benefits for third countries that share river
basins with the European Union.

3. Summary of the proposal

— The second chapter describes preliminary flood risk assess-
ment for each river basin and sets out some minimum
requirements in Article 4(2). On the basis of this assess-
ment, the river basins are to be assigned to one of two cate-
gories: those with no potential flood risks and those that
have significant potential flood risks. This assessment is to
be completed at the latest three years after the date of entry
into force of this Directive.

— The preparation of

flood risk maps is provided for in
chapter three. These cover not only river basins but also
coastal areas that fall within river basin districts. These
maps are to take into account the probability of flooding
for each geographical area and estimate potential effects on
the population, local economy and environment.

— Flood risk management plans are covered in chapter four,
under Article 9 et seq. Member States are to prepare and
flood risk management plans for each river
implement
basin district, on the basis of the preliminary assessment, in
order to reduce the probability of flooding and lessen its
effects. To this end, the plans must address water manage-
ment, soil management, spatial planning, land use. In no
case may the measures have a negative impact on neigh-
bouring countries.

— Public information and participation, covered in chapter
five, incorporates the provisions of Article 14 of the WFD
and should be part of the preparation of both the preli-
minary assessment and the management plans.

— Chapter six covers the committee established under Article

21 of the WFD to assist the Commission.

— Lastly, chapter seven sets a deadline of 2018 for completion
of
the Commission reports to the Parliament and the
Council, and stipulates that Member States must communi-
cate to the Commission the provisions they have adopted
to transpose the Directive no later than two years from the
date of its entry into force.

3.1

The proposal is divided into seven chapters:

4. Comments on the proposal

— The first sets out general provisions, identifying the propo-
sal's objective and defining floods and flood risk to supple-
ment the definitions found in Article 2 of the WFD.

(2) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European
Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions - Flood risk management - Flood preven-
tion, protection and mitigation COM(2004) 472 final of 12/07/
2004.

(3) Regulation No 1698/2005 on rural development and the EAFRD.
(4) Opinion CESE 125/2005, see footnote 1, OJ C 221, 8.9.2005.

4.1
The EESC notes that the inclusion of this proposal in
the methodology of the WFD encourages the incorporation of
flood management plans into the river basin plans; this ensures
that the necessary planning is undertaken for action over the
entire length of the river basin and that the measures and
actions undertaken by the competent authorities at the various
levels (local, State, cross-border, etc.) are compatible and prop-
erly coordinated.

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4.5
The EESC suggests to the Commission that the river
basin plans provided for in Article 9 and in Annex A be specifi-
cally based on the following principles and measures:

— Returning river and coastal water systems to their natural
state, promoting the recovery of natural spaces and the
natural self-regulating functions of basins (reforestation in
mountainous areas, the protection of wetlands and asso-
ciated ecosystems, monitoring erosion and sedimentation in
water courses, programmes for finding alternative uses …
etc.).

— The principle of achieving sustainable development in flood

areas, by:

— estimating the exploitable economic potential of land
use in these areas which is compatible with natural
flood activity;

— planning the transition to these models in the various

areas of planning, in particular land-use planning.

society's

In order

to increase civil

4.6
in
preventing the risks and effects of flooding, it is important that
a system of information and participation is developed in all
Member States, as provided for in Article 14 of the WFD. To
this end, the arrangements for participation should cover both
the risk management plans and the preliminary assessments.

involvement

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Anne-Marie SIGMUND

4.2
Furthermore, the integration of flood management in
the WFD conceptually supports the definition of flooding as a
natural and normal phenomena in river and coastal systems.
Flood risk is defined in terms of the negative impact on human
health, the environment, economic activity and consequently to
damage to the bodies of water covered by the WFD.

4.3
The need for an initial flood risk assessment was one of
our main conclusions (5); therefore, we believe that the provi-
sions set out in both Articles 4 and 5 of the proposed Directive
will aid the scientific preparation of flood management plans. It
is important to mention some of the requirements, such as:

— a description of the floods which have occurred in the past;

— a description of flooding processes and their sensitivity to

change;

— a description of development plans that would entail a
change of land use or of allocation of the population and
distribution of economic activities resulting in an increase
of flood risks.

4.4
In addition, the classification of river basins and coast-
lines according to whether they are at risk of flooding or not
seems very significant. The EESC agrees that the objective of
this risk management is to reduce the probability and impact
of floods, and to that end it is necessary to classify the actions
and measures that can be adopted and the criteria for making
the right choice in each case.

Brussels, 17 May 2006.

(5) See points 3.2 and 3.3 of opinion CESE 125/2005, OJ C 221,

8.9.2005.