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Cross-border flood management: what the report by François Decoster has to say
June 2024Following the floods in inland Flanders in November 2023 and January 2024, which necessitated the activation of the "MAGETEAUX" plan*, the President of the French Republic entrusted François Decoster, Mayor of Saint-Omer, with a mission to analyze our neighbors' flood prevention and management practices and policies.
The report has just been published, read it here.
What about cross-border issues?
A section of chapter 3 on "Actions and areas for progress" is dedicated to strengthening cross-border cooperation. After recalling the history of previous collaborations, the report highlights the perspective of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, which wished to emphasize "the importance of cross-border cooperation in river flood prevention and crisis management". The applications of the Hauts-de-France Region and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia for observer status in the Benelux+ Union should further strengthen cross-border cooperation in the water sector, as should the signing on April 3rd of a cooperation roadmap between the Hauts-de-France Region and the Netherlands. More generally, the particular status of water as a "priority subject for cooperation" and the importance of working groups were underlined.
This section leads to the ninth recommendation: "Increase cross-border cooperation in water management and flood prevention to develop the sharing of best practices and joint crisis management reflexes". The tenth recommendation concerns the creation of a new institution "responsible for [...] the political support of climate change anticipation". The report recommends linking this institution to the river basin committees, with the Flemish government itself showing an interest "in cross-border cooperation between the authorities that will be in charge".
More generally, the "Sigma50 Plan", first implemented in 1977 in response to major flooding caused by a storm surge in 1976 in the cross-border Scheldt basin of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, is cited as an example. It is also specified that stress test exercises should be undertaken as part of a cross-border approach.
Photo: Projet Mageteaux / Romy Vanhooren
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