Flood legislation and land policy framework of EU and non-EU countries in Southern Europe

Floods are a widespread natural hazard affecting people and their assets in regions worldwide, including Southern Europe. Besides coastal floods, the Mediterranean region is highly prone to flash floods driven by short but intense precipitation events. With increasing flood risk due to climate change and socio-economic conditions, governments are under pressure to reinforce flood protection measures, which could be a great challenge for the weak economies of non-EU developing countries. This is of particular relevance to achieving international commitments such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Several policy frameworks have been developed to mitigate flooding risk, at European Union (EU) and global level. These frameworks call for a holistic risk reduction approach where governments, institutions, and households are all responsible for reducing risk. In practice, however, gray infrastructure remains the prevailing flood risk management measure in many countries. Incorporation into national legislation and implementation of the EU policy framework will increase constraints and pressures for non-EU countries, particularly those strongly committed to becoming EU members in future. This article provides a comprehensive review of policies and measures implemented in four different southern European countries to mitigate flood hazard, and compares governance aspects between EU (Portugal and Slovenia) and non-EU countries (B&H and Serbia). Understanding governance aspects and the status of flood-related policy implementation is of critical importance in protecting people and enhancing resilience to climate change impacts. Programs of improvement measures and further integration of sustainable water management with other sectoral policies are required to reduce flood risks. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Water Governance Science of Water > Water Extremes