EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION ON UK FLOODS - MEP DEMANDS EU ACTION

7.18.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 4th Sep 2007

West Midlands LibDem MEP Liz Lynne has led calls in a European Parliament resolution passed today, for stronger measures to prevent and recover from natural disasters, including more financial aid for flood defences and infrastructure and better sharing of best practice among EU countries, in the light of the recent severe flooding that hit the UK.

The European Parliament's resolution, co tabled by Liz Lynne on behalf of the Liberal and Democrat Group, criticises the lack of coordination in disaster relief between Member States and calls on the European Commission to reform the EU's Solidarity Fund to ensure the threshold for applying for emergency aid is reduced and that applications for emergency money are processed quickly.

The floods in two waves in June and July cost at least ten lives and caused chaos all over the West Midlands, with flooding affecting some parts of Birmingham, though the worst damage was confined to a strip from Ludlow across to the Severn and Avon, with one man dying in his car near Pershore, where six inches of rain fell in a single day. The Severn Valley Railway, the region's largest heritage railway line, suffered millions of pounds of damage after the track was washed away in several places.

Speaking from Strasbourg today Liz said:

"This summer has been one of the worst in memory, with extreme weather causing misery for millions of people across the European Union. Through this resolution, I have ensured the whole of the EU knows what damage and suffering was inflicted upon our region and my constituents."

"The message from the European Parliament is clear; the UK must be better prepared, we must share best practice and research with other EU Member States and above all the UK must put money and research into flood defences, in the light of increasingly extreme climatic events."

"The EU must now consider seriously a European force that can immediately react to emergencies in any Member State and ensure that when funds and other support is needed it is available."

"We must also allow local authorities and the emergency services to have the freedom to deal with risk of much higher rainfall, and to upgrade drainage maintenance and water run-off infrastructure to try and reduce the risk of catastrophic flash floods.