What changed

European Parliament resolution on the devastating floods in central and eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change

P10_TA(2024)0014

(2024/2817(RSP))

The devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change

PE764.075

European Parliament resolution of 19 September 2024 on the devastating floods in central and eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change (2024/2817(RSP))

The European Parliament,

B. whereas individual extreme weather events cannot be directly attributed to a specific cause; whereas it is clear, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), that the climate crisis is leading to more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as floods, storms and heatwaves, making precipitation and storms more severe, heatwaves hotter and droughts drier;

✦ Formal Replaces the decimal separator in the temperature figure from a period to a comma.

C. whereas the first EUCRA and the Commission communication on managing climate risks – protecting people and prosperity, point out that Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world and severe phenomena such as wildfires, droughts and floods are becoming more and more frequent across Europe as a result of the effects of climate change; whereas the average temperature over European land in summer 2024 was the highest on record for the season, at 1.54 °C above the 1991-2020 average, exceeding the previous record from 2022; whereas this marked a 14-month period during which the average global surface air temperature exceeded 1.51,5 °C above pre-industrial levels;

✦ Formal Replaces the decimal separator in the number of affected people from a period to a comma.

D. whereas in the past 30 years alone, flooding across Europe has affected 5.55,5 million people, with almost 3 000 lives lost and causing more than EUR 170 billion in economic damage; whereas climate change is significantly increasing flood risks across Europe;

E. whereas in some parts of the affected regions of central and eastern Europe, three quarters of the average annual precipitation fell in just four days; whereas effective and coordinated cooperation between rescue services and the rapid cross-border exchange of resources and expertise have saved lives and prevented worse damage; whereas coordination at EU level, the pooling of resources and the exchange of best practices are essential for successful disaster relief;

I. whereas natural disasters have a negative long-term impact on economic, social and territorial cohesion in different areas, regions and Member States of the EU;

✦ Adds a sentence stating that the future MFF must recognize the crucial role of cohesion policy and ensure an adequate budget.

J. whereas, owing to its regional focus, place-based approach, strategic planning and effective implementation model, cohesion policy should play a key role in the prevention of disasters, recovery from symmetric and asymmetric shocks, and the fight against climate change; whereas in order to effectively address these challenges, it is essential that the future MFF recognises the crucial role of cohesion policy, ensuring an adequate budget;

K. whereas nature-based solutions are essential to prevent climate-induced weather-related disasters; whereas floodplains and healthy forests, soils and moors, wetlands and peatlands, and natural green areas in cities and the countryside act as a buffer against climate impacts by retaining water and mitigating the effects of floods and droughts;

5. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to stand ready to support any Member State that requests emergency assistance under the UCPM without delay; welcomes the Ukrainian Government’s pledge to support the EU with emergency service personnel and equipment;

✦ Formal Replaces the decimal separator in the payment cut figure from a period to a comma.

6. Underlines the need to provide the UCPM with sufficient and upgraded resources in order to increase preparedness and improve capacity building; regrets, therefore, the budget cuts of EUR 37 million (in commitments) and EUR 154.9154,9 million (in payments) for the UCPM (rescEU); calls for increased funding to be allocated for the relevant budget lines and in the next MFF; calls on the Commission to consider mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management across the relevant EU funding programmes, considering that all funds spent in this area will prevent significant expenditure on response and rebuilding;

7. Calls on the Commission to follow up on its recommendations from its communication of 29 May 2024 and make concrete proposals to strengthen the operational response capabilities of the UCPM; calls on the Commission to swiftly complete its planned review of the UCPM, including its Emergency Response Coordination Centre, in the first year of the new Commission’s mandate, and to present concrete measures for further strengthening and developing the EU’s collective ability to react to natural disasters, such as the creation of an EU civil protection force for strategic reserves of food, water, medicines and medical equipment, supporting the roll-out of mobile-based early-warning tools for citizens, the joint award of new public contracts to modernise civil protection assets, and supporting programmes aimed at providing training, equipment and exchanges of volunteer civil protection services; calls on the Commission and the Member States to speed up the establishment of the new permanent rescEU fleet and ensure that it receives adequate funding;

8. Calls for immediate EU financial and technical assistance to be provided to the affected countries;

✦ Adds a new paragraph urging the activation of the CAP's Crisis Reserve to alleviate agricultural losses from natural disasters.

9. Urgently calls for the activation of the CAP’s Crisis Reserve to alleviate severe losses suffered by the agricultural sector as a result of the natural disasters;

10. Calls for the activation of mechanisms such as the EUSF; considers, however, that the EUSF budget should be commensurate with the increasing number and severity of natural disasters across Europe; urges the Commission to increase the budget of the European Solidarity Reserve (ESR); urges the Commission to explore all possible avenues for accelerating the mobilisation of the EUSF; emphasises, therefore, the importance of ensuring adequate funding for EUSF under the next MFF; stresses, furthermore, the need for reasonable flexibility when recipient countries and regions face justifiable delays and challenges in applying for and using the allocated funding; calls, furthermore, for an emergency funding line to facilitate the swift recovery of affected areas, infrastructure and livelihoods, as well as investments in preventive measures to reduce the impacts of future extreme weather events;

11. Calls on the Commission to provide technical and financial support to the regions disproportionately affected by natural disasters exacerbated by climate change, including through the cohesion policy instruments, ensuring that no Member State or region is left behind in the efforts to enhance climate resilience and disaster preparedness; points out that it is essential for aid and financial resources to be made available in the affected areas in as quick, easy and flexible a manner as possible;

✦ Adds a new paragraph noting that increasing advance payments from the EUSF would improve disaster response and urges the Commission to explore accelerating its mobilisation.

12. Notes that substantially increasing advance payments from the EUSF would allow Member States to respond more effectively and quickly to disasters, especially in less developed regions, where immediate assistance is required; urges the Commission to explore all possible avenues for accelerating the mobilisation of the EUSF, in particular by amending current rules and to consider granting higher advance payments to applicant countries;

13. Strongly supports the strengthening of EU investments linked to regional and local resilience in the next MFF, notably under cohesion policy; acknowledges the need for built-in crisis flexibility in the context of regional funding in order to safeguard additional investments for projects that are damaged or destroyed before being fully implemented; proposes the creation of a dedicated priority axis under cohesion policy for local and regional authorities to address emerging priorities in a bottom-up process, initiated at sub-national level; considers that the key principle should be a tailor-made investment approach geared towards specific needs on the ground;