What changed between the resolution motion and the resolution motion joint

Removed:14. Recommends that, when rebuilding critical infrastructure, including transport, healthcare, water and energy systems, national, regional and local governments ensure that this infrastructure is designed to withstand future extreme weather events; calls, therefore, on local, regional and national actors to accelerate the implementation of climate adaptation measures, particularly flood prevention infrastructure such as dams, levees and drainage systems, and natural solutions such as reforestation and wetland restoration;

Added:2. Commends the tireless efforts and commitment of the professional and volunteer fire departments, rescue organisations, volunteers and military in the countries affected by the floods and other natural disasters all over Europe, along with the national, regional and local authorities, and members of the public who have risked their lives to save others and protect homes and infrastructure; stresses that the emergency services have played a crucial role in saving lives, evacuating vulnerable areas and protecting property in often difficult conditions, and that their tireless efforts and willingness to act, even at the risk of their own lives, have played a crucial role in limiting the disaster;

Removed:15. Underlines the synergies between the EUSF, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the climate change adaptation component of the European Regional Development Fund and territorial cooperation programmes, which are essential in creating a comprehensive response and resilience package;

Added:3. Expresses its deep concern over the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in the EU and globally, including extreme precipitation and large-scale floods, and heatwaves and wildfires, and over their serious, direct impacts on human and animal health, livelihoods, housing, infrastructure, the economy, agriculture, food security and ecosystems; underscores the link between climate change and extreme weather events and emphasises the importance of addressing this nexus in an effective and coherent manner by strengthening the collective response at EU and international level through effective civil protection and climate adaptation and mitigation measures, in order to protect people, their livelihoods, the economy and ecosystems;

Removed:16. Considers that regional investments through the EU budget should remain under shared management for programming and implementation in order to be able to respond to the needs of Member States, regions and urban, rural and remote areas, especially in order to enable urban and rural areas to adapt to new challenges, such as floods; asks the Commission, the Member States and regional authorities to use and enhance existing mechanisms to detect and fight irregularities, fraud and corruption under any EU financial instrument, including in cohesion policy funding and emergency relief aid;

Added:4. Stresses that keeping the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement within reach requires collective effort and further action from all countries involved; urges all parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the EU, to follow up on the global efforts agreed in the global stocktake decision through the ambitious implementation and scaling-up of nationally determined contributions in line with the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement; recalls that the EU, in accordance with the European Climate Law, must continue its efforts on climate mitigation to reach this long-term goal, and on adaptation to foster resilience;

Removed:17. Recalls the commitments made under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, and under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and other international agreements aimed at disaster risk reduction and environmental sustainability;

Added:Civil protection and disaster relief funding

Removed:18. Encourages the strengthening of regional cooperation frameworks between central and eastern European countries and encourages the deployment of international expertise to support recovery and rehabilitation efforts to foster joint disaster management strategies, share best practices and improve transboundary water management;

Added:Civil protection

Removed:19. Considers 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 and the Emergency Aid Reserve; emphasises, furthermore, the importance of ensuring adequate funding for these reserves or their equivalent, in view of the upcoming Commission proposal on the new MFF and the relevant interinstitutional negotiations;

Added: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;

Removed:20. Calls on the Commission to further streamline procedures and reduce the time required to process applications for the mobilisation of the EUSF; calls on the Member States and regions to identify bottlenecks and strengthen administrative and operational capacities in order to accelerate the disbursal of EUSF funds; stresses the need for reasonable flexibility when recipient countries and regions face justifiable delays and challenges in applying for and using the allocated funding;

Added: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 154.9 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;

Removed:21. Highlights the need to evaluate and maximise the potential of forests, trees and green infrastructure in flood management, climate adaptation and the provision of ecosystem services; notes, for example, that urban trees can absorb rainwater while also improving air quality; calls for increased tree planting in towns and cities and for support for sustainable forest management; stresses that all flood prevention and adaptation measures related to reforestation and agriculture should be informed by the latest scientific knowledge and implemented with full respect for ecological principles;

Added: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;

Removed:22. Calls on the Commission to include in the cohesion policy of the 2027-2033 MFF, particularly the European Regional Development Fund, the necessary funds to swiftly rebuild the affected national historic heritage sites, build retention tanks in flood-risk areas, equip first responders and ensure the continuous exchange of knowledge between the Member States;

Added:Financial support and budgetary instruments

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

Added:9. 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;

Added:Regional policy

Added:10. 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;

Added:11. 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;

Added:12. Acknowledges that the EU’s future cohesion policy should place a further focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation; calls, therefore, for investments in climate adaptation and disaster prevention and preparedness to be guaranteed either through a dedicated policy objective or a dedicated priority axis under regional development and the overall framework of cohesion policy, thematic concentration or a specific enabling condition to address emerging priorities in a bottom-up process, so as to ensure sustainable investments in local, regional and national infrastructure and risk management in less-developed urban and rural areas, including border regions, islands and the outermost regions;

Added:13. Emphasises the importance of designing and maintaining tailor-made EU programmes and measures for regions prone to natural disasters; acknowledges the need for built-in crisis flexibility in the context of regional funding;

Added:14. considers that regional investments through the EU budget should remain under shared management for programming and implementation in order to be able to respond to the needs of Member States, regions and urban, rural and remote areas, especially in order to enable urban and rural areas to adapt to new challenges, such as floods;

Added:15. Stresses that differences exist between the Member States when it comes to the competences of their local and regional authorities; recalls that local and regional authorities are fundamental actors in planning, preparing and implementing the projects that should contribute to climate adaptation, risk prevention and preparedness on the ground; calls for an enhanced place-based approach to bring disaster preparedness and management closer to the regional and local levels;

Added:16. Highlights that the EU’s regional policy has been instrumental in helping develop the corresponding capacities of local and regional authorities, and calls for their role to be strengthened; underlines that technical, financial and administrative capacities are essential in ensuring that managing bodies and local and regional authorities acquire technical knowledge, especially on climate change, that they can use for urban and rural planning and management; is convinced that this will improve the design and evaluation of project proposals and enable the more effective allocation of resources and satisfactory budget implementation, without a significant risk of decommitments of EU investments;

Added:17. Calls for existing technical assistance and advisory programmes to specifically target smaller municipalities, cross-border, remote and rural areas, and the outermost and island regions, to help them face new challenges such as the green transition and climate change; underlines, in this respect, the importance of technical assistance instruments being developed through collaboration between the European Investment Bank and the Commission; calls for targeted support in the form of 100 % EU financing for technical, financial and administrative capacity-building, project design and preparation, project pipeline identification and development, and strategic planning capabilities, including planning instruments;

Added:18. calls for Commission initiatives, such as the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, to be more involved in the process of designing and implementing the next generation of disaster preparedness investments; acknowledges that policy and implementation support, geared towards mayors and local authorities, generates significantly better outcomes in the context of policy implementation;

Added:19. Encourages the strengthening of regional cooperation frameworks among central and eastern European countries and encourages the deployment of international expertise to support recovery and rehabilitation efforts to foster joint disaster management strategies, share best practices and improve transboundary water management;

Added:Climate adaptation

Added:20. Calls on the Commission to swiftly present the European climate adaptation plan that it announced as part of the 2024-2029 Political Guidelines for the next European Commission, including concrete legislative proposals, so as to coordinate efforts to enhance adaptation and resilience in line with the goals of the European Climate Law and the Paris Agreement, in order to strengthen the resilience of our societies and adapt to the impacts of climate change, ensure regular science-based risk assessments, measurable resilience targets and support and coordinate Member State actions on preparedness, planning and cross-border cooperation;

Added:21. Highlights, in this regard, the need for further urgent investment in flood management and risk prevention measures, including improved early warning systems, real-time monitoring systems, flood management infrastructure and nature-based solutions, and long-term investments in green and blue infrastructure, such as giving streams and rivers more space by restoring natural flood plains and old riverbeds, wetlands and forests, and improving water retention by restoring the sponge function of landscapes; calls for any potential synergies to be leveraged between the planning instruments under development by the Member States, for example, natural restoration plans, soil district plans, integrated management plans under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and flood risk management, while avoiding maladaptation;

Added:22. Calls, in this regard, on the Commission to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and speed up approval procedures for the repair and construction of flood management infrastructure and nature-based solutions so that urgently needed protection measures can be implemented without unnecessary delays; stresses that this requires more time-efficient procedures, well-defined responsibilities and a clear focus on the necessary construction measures;

Added:23. Highlights several examples of successful flood prevention and protection measures, often with support from EU funds, that have helped some regions and communities to protect themselves against the worst impacts of the ongoing flooding, such as the Racibórz Dolny reservoir and surrounding dry polders in Poland, which have played a key role in limiting the damage in Wrocław, as well as the Danube floodplains and other preventive measures in Niederösterreich and Vienna;

Added:24. Requests that the Commission assess the implementation of existing flood prevention legislation in the EU and the effectiveness of past EU-funded projects, offering recommendations for better use of EU funds; calls for the Member States to update their flood prevention action plans so as to define high-risk flood zones and where construction plans should be halted, in order to improve risk prevention and enhance civil protection;

Added:25. Stresses that tackling socio-economic inequality is essential for a just adaption to climate change; underlines that the differences in the vulnerability of various groups necessitate a targeted approach to climate adaptation and disaster preparedness and prevention;

Added:26. Stresses that floods, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather events create major challenges for many economic sectors, in particular the agricultural sector and farmers, who are suffering further losses and are unable to harvest their produce; calls on the Commission to better address the impact of these climate-related hazards on food production, food security and farmers’ incomes;

Added:27. Recommends the use of advanced Copernicus products and remote sensing data to support preventive measures;

28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.