Evaluating the Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks in the wake of the disastrous floods of summer 2021

Subject: Evaluating the Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks in the wake of the disastrous floods of summer 2021

Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks came into force on 26 November 2007. The Directive provides for so-called flood risk management plans, which are each valid for six years and are updated on a cyclical basis.

1. What conclusions does the Commission draw from the disastrous floods this summer with a view to the next cycle of the Directive, which begins on 22 December 2021, the date by which flood risk management plans must be reviewed and, where necessary, updated?

2. With regard to the flood hazard maps, does the Commission consider it necessary to extend the scenarios ‘floods with a low probability, or extreme event scenarios’, ‘floods with a medium probability (likely return period ≥ 100 years)’ and ‘floods with a high probability, where appropriate’ with other scenarios in order to achieve more dynamic flood risk management in the geographical areas that might be affected by flooding?

3. Does the Commission consider it necessary to include in the Directive more precise provisions on the categorisation of flood risks in order to achieve better harmonisation of flood hazard maps and flood risk maps in the EU?

Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (21 January 2022)

In its review of Member States’ Flood Risk Management Plans (1) (FRMPs) under the Floods Directive (2), the Commission found that civil protection authorities were largely involved as stakeholders in the preparation of these plans.

Following the floods of summer 2021, the Commission organised a lessons learned meeting where civil protection and flood risk management authorities came together. One conclusion was that there is a continuous need to reinforce linkages between relevant authorities particularly in view to building more resilient societies.

The Floods Directive has a wide scope since a flood is defined as the temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water. In addition, the scenarios of Article 6.3 of the directive deal with floods of low, medium and high probability, thus all probabilities are covered.

The various sources of flood risk (e.g. fluvial, pluvial, or coastal, or combinations thereof) generate floods with different mechanisms and characteristics.

The evaluation published by the Commission in December 2019 (3) found that the framework created by the Floods Directive is flexible enough to accommodate the varying circumstances of the Member States.

In 2022, the Commission will carry out an assessment of the Member States’ flood hazard maps and flood risk maps and will publish its findings.

⋅1∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=SWD:2019:31:FIN&qid=1551205988853&from=EN

⋅2∙ Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood, OJ L 288, 6.11.2007, p. 27‐


⋅3∙ https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/fitness_check_of_the_eu_water_legislation/index_en.htm