EUROPEAN CIVIL PROTECTION Preview of the meeting on Lessons learnt on Floods in Europe 2010 11-12 November 2010 DG ECHO Civil Protection Units

The EU CP Mechanism in a Nutshell Mechanism facilitates reinforced cooperation between the Community and the Participating States in civil protection in the event of a major disaster Natural and manmade disasters, inside and outside EU European Commission + 31 Participating States (EU + Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Croatia) Main tools: Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) – available 24/7 Coordination and assessment teams Database of modules and experts Transport pooling and co-financing Training and exercises Preparedness and prevention projects what is exactly the role of the Mechanism ? [read 1st bullet point] it facilitates and supports: the EU does not have its own teams and equipment; rather, it helps Participating States (PS) to provide their assistance to disaster-stricken countries. The PS do it on a voluntary basis it gets activated only in response to major disasters and only upon an official request of country in distress, when it cannot cope by itself. (One exception is failed states, where request could come from International Community) all types of disasters are covered: natural and man-made (e.g., earthquakes, floods, industrial accidents and terrorism) currently the Mechanism brings together 30 PS operational hearth of the Mechanism is the MIC (Monitoring and Information Centre)

Lessons Learnt meeting on Floods in Europe 2010 11-12 November 2010 (the same place) Previous years: lessons learnt focused only on response to disasters and only for those events that triggered activation of the EUCP Mechanism Council Conclusion of 30 Nov 2009 called on the Commission to: “support the exchange and diffusion of best practices and lessons learnt on disaster prevention” So, this meeting will try to address in an integrated manner issues related to prevention, preparedness and response to floods in Europe

Lessons Learnt meeting on Floods in Europe 2010 Objectives: creating a network of the response and prevention authorities in a European context; understanding how the lessons learnt at national level after significant flood events are integrated in the national prevention policy/flood risk management plans; drawing up lessons learnt on the use of: EU co-financing , Floods Directive, early warning systems, modules Learning by doing – feedback is welcomed, as well as proposals for the future

Lessons Learnt meeting on Floods in Europe 2010 Portugal (Madeira flash-floods) Poland (May-June 2010), Hungary (May-June 2010), Romania (May-June 2010), Republic of Moldova (July-August 2010) – non-EU, but EUCP Mechanism was activated Slovak Republic (May-June 2010), Czech Republic (May-June 2010), France (Var flash-floods, June 2010), Germany Slovenia (September 2010), Croatia (September 2010), Malta (October 2010)

Lessons Learnt meeting on Floods in Europe 2010 Main topics to be discussed Presentation of experiences from the affected Participating States & from the team deployed in Rep. of Moldova EWS - EFAS use Flood preparedness: registered modules, experience of the module deployed, host-nation support EU Solidarity Fund Floods Directive: recovery and review phase; role of funding Structural funds for flood prevention, preparedness, response and recovery

Lessons Learnt meeting on Floods in Europe 2010 Working document on the Floods in [Country X] – before 8 November General situation of the flood development and affected area / population / damages, Use of Early Warning Systems in forecasting the events, preparing the response and reacting, Type of flood events (e.g. flash flood, slow on-set, coastal flood), Type of national assets involved in the response, Type of assets requested within the Mechanism, Evaluation of the response via the Mechanism (if case), Lessons learnt at national level, Integration of the Lessons Learnt into the prevention and response relevant plans (e.g. Flood Management plans, evacuation plans, land-use plans, etc), Impact on the use of national and EU financial resources available (including use of EUSF, Structural Funds, Rural Development Fund). This document should be prepared in a joint manner by the authorities that deal with the various aspects at national level.