12 May 2011: The Council of EU ministers for justice and home affairs, meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 12 May 2011, adopted conclusions on Integrated Flood Management within the EU.

In the conclusions, the Council recommends: stepping up local, regional and national early warning systems; improving preparedness at local, regional and national levels by increasing cooperation among meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic experts; and strengthening cooperation and information-sharing among national, regional and local authorities involved in disaster management and water management, in order to further develop an integrated approach to flood management. It calls on member States to consider future flood management challenges that may be associated with climate change in the implementation of relevant legislation, and to develop emergency response plans, taking into account potential exceptional or high impact weather conditions.

The Council also lists specific measures for member States to develop an integrated approach to flood management, taking into account the whole disaster management cycle, including to: prepare for increasingly high-impact exceptional weather phenomena as a result of climate change, by including extreme weather and subsequent flood scenarios in emergency response plans; and incorporate climate change adaptation into building regulations, making available information enabling new settlers and builders to be aware of any risks when they move into flood-prone areas. [Conclusions on Integrated Flood Management]