Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The ECR Group called for practical measures to combat climate change after severe floods in Central and Eastern Europe, emphasizing the need for a concrete strategy and infrastructure investment.
The ECR Group in the European Parliament called for more concrete and practical measures to contain the effects of climate change. It was discussed in a special meeting on the devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe. The discussion comprises heavy rain and other extreme weather events occurring.Â
How have floods affected Central and Eastern Europe?
As reported by news sources, at least eight people have perished after some of the heaviest rain in years hit central and eastern Europe, inducing flooding and widespread disruption. A slow-moving low-pressure system named Storm Boris dumped months’ worth of rain onto several of Europe’s historic cities, including Vienna, Bratislava and Prague, over just a few days. Heavy rainfall continued to hit the region with red alerts, the highest-level caution, still in effect for parts of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia.
Furthermore, Rivers have overflowed their banks in Poland and the Czech Republic. In southwest Poland, 1,600 people were vacated in Klodzko county as local rivers reached record high water levels and smashed their banks. Klodzko, a village of 25,000, was left partially immersed in water.
What practical measures does the ECR group suggest for floods?
MEP Waldemar Buda, ECR coordinator in the Committee on Regional Development has expressed that the implementation of polders or reservoirs, for example, is often hindered by overly complicated regulations and the chance of being blocked by interest groups.Â
He emphasised that the European Parliament should ask the European Commission to present a concrete strategy: how much, for whom, by when and what actions will be taken. According to him, such concrete actions do not exist and people desire them.
Moreover, the Conservative MEP stressed that the EU should, for example, make money unrestricted from the Solidarity Fund.
“Climate change is inevitable. We need to build the infrastructure, not make it harder to build, which is what politics is about today,”
stated Buda, who is also the ECR’s negotiator on the Parliament’s joint resolution. “The Green Deal policy has basically blocked investment that would help today,” he stated.
