18
Sep
2024
Watch
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 (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, those who have experienced floods know well that sometimes nature cannot be fought. Sometimes we just have to step back and try to mitigate the damage. The Czech Republic is currently facing devastating floods that are destroying our homes and infrastructure. This natural disaster shows that we need not only immediate help, but also long-term solutions. I call on the European Commission to focus on concrete actions that will protect our country and other states in the future. Unfortunately, only in the Czech Republic we have three victims and there are seven missing people. Water is now beginning to decline in some parts of the Czech Republic, slowly revealing the extent of the damage it has caused. For example, the Mayor of Opava, the Czech statutory city, estimates the damage to be more than two billion crowns. Municipalities and entrepreneurs estimate the total damage to be approximately CZK 20 billion, which is approximately EUR 817 million, or 0.3% of the GDP of the Czech Republic. And this is already a significant intervention in the Czech economy. However, this scale of destruction brings not only material damage, but also new threats, such as the spread of diseases. I propose to launch a programme to build flood protection measures across the European Union, because water knows no borders. We need to share the best technology and know-how to protect our communities. Together, we can strengthen dams, create retention tanks, modernize drainage systems. Investing in these measures is not an expense, but an opportunity to secure a safer future. Bureaucratic paralysis, for example, is behind the dam project in Nové Heřminovy, which could have prevented billions of dollars of damage. It is also necessary to strengthen research and development on climate change and disaster prevention, to modernise monitoring systems and to improve river basin management. They can save thousands of lives. From this place, I would like to thank the Integrated Rescue System and ask all of us to applaud them together.