Dear President von der Leyen,

Dear Commissioner Ferreira,

The catastrophic floods that heavily affected several European countries, in particular Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia resulted in human casualties and heavy damages. The vast territories and many local communities face grave challenges and will suffer consequences for months and even years to come. 

The situation we are facing, where in some parts of affected regions the amount of rain that fell in four days was equal to ¾ of annual precipitation, is unprecedented but at the same time will most probably soon become our “new normal”.

We are at the breakthrough moment. The citizens of European Union need us more than ever now. It is time to act and ensure that they can count on our unconditional support. For that, we need swift, decisive and effective steps. Actions that will deliver solutions.

I believe the European Union shall draw lessons from recent crises, namely COVID-19 pandemic and Russian war aggression on Ukraine, when bold actions were taken within days.

Therefore I call on you, Madam President, to yet again adopt such rapid and flexible approach.  I call on you to fully exploit the potential of cohesion policy funds, as well as Recovery and Resilience Fund in fighting the natural disaster effects and supporting the local communities in the restoration process, such as you did by preparing the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus during the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe the natural disaster we are facing right now requires equal solutions and introduction of suitable flexibility clauses in the cohesion policy and RRF regulations that will allow for immediate deployment of those funds to the people and territories in need.

I trust in your engagement in the service of our citizens and remain at your full disposal.

Respectfully yours,

Andrzej Buła

Member of the European Parliament