EU Commission to propose new law clarifying who handles climate disasters
The European Commission plans to present a legislative proposal on October 28 requiring countries to clearly assign responsibility among national, regional and local authorities for handling wildfires and floods. The move follows disputes in Belgium, Spain and Germany where officials blamed each other after deadly disasters.
The European Commission is preparing to unveil a new climate resilience framework on October 28 that would require member states to clearly divide responsibility for preventing and managing climate disasters such as wildfires and floods among national, regional and local authorities. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previewed the framework in her State of the Union address on September 16, saying risks would be assessed along with the level at which they should be managed.
Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said in August that it must be far clearer who — locally, regionally, nationally or at EU level — is responsible for specific actions. He stressed the Commission has no intention of micromanaging disaster response, saying it would be pointless, for instance, to tell the Dutch how to build their dikes.
Belgium, Spain and Germany examples
The problem was illustrated by last month's large wildfire in the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve in Belgium, reportedly sparked by farm machinery mowing parched land, where no authority had been responsible for preventing fire risk. While the federal government coordinates national climate preparedness, land management is a regional competence, and mowing bans were imposed by only some provinces. Similar disputes followed Spain's 2024 Valencia floods, where national authorities issued warnings but the region was responsible for managing the emergency and disseminating flood alerts, which often arrived too late. In Germany, local and regional officials blamed each other after the deadly 2021 Ahr valley floods.
Experts, including Leeds University professor Suraje Dessai and E3G Brussels director Manon Dufour, say no one is currently clearly in charge of climate risks at EU level, with responsibility often passed down to cities and regions that lack the resources to cope. Theo Cox of the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative warned the new framework also needs an enforcement mechanism, otherwise it risks becoming merely a reporting exercise.
