€1 billion spending by EU states on flood defence

The projects range in cost from ‘digital flood plans’ for various towns and cities throughout the bloc, costing €14,438 each, to €105 million for the Greek municipalities of Rafina-Pikermi, Spata-Artemida and Pallini, which are all on or near the Aegean Sea.

Flooding in the East Attica region is driven by a mix of Mediterranean ‘flash-flood’ rainfall, fast runoff from surrounding hills and heavy development pressure on natural drainage corridors, the European Commission says.

In Rafina, the Great Rafina Stream (Megalo Rema) collects large volumes of water after rainfall from the wider Mesogeia area and nearby mountain catchments, creating conditions for sudden flooding and damage. 

The €105.85m Rafina Stream flood-protection package is structured as seven sub-projects that combine major civil works with the ‘enabling’ actions needed to deliver them. The core element is flood-management works on the Rafina Stream system, covering roughly 15km from the river mouth, including engineered interventions on key tributaries and hydraulic pinch points.

It also provides for a sediment or debris retention basin to trap carried material that can block channels during storms, plus landscaping, planting and environmental upgrading along downstream stretches.

Greece and Portugal

Many of the projects costing more than €1 million are in Greece, including €3.5 million for corrosion and flood protection of the coast by the monastery complex at Pantokrator, and €7 million for ‘flood protection infrastructure’ in the area of the Community of Olympiada of the Municipality of Aristotle, where three dams are to be built along with as well as the flood protection works regulating the water flow. Olympiada experiences flooding roughly every four years.

Elsewhere, Portugal is rolling out several flood-protection projects costing more than €1 million, including in high-risk river corridors.

In Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, authorities will boost resilience on the eastern river corridor by creating a retention and renaturalisation basin and stabilising the Torto River, with targeted defences on Rua da Levada and new retention and recovery basins on the Ribeira de Santarém.

In Peso da Régua, riverbanks are to be rehabilitated, with monitoring and technical studies carried out to protect 7,095 residents through 2026.

While a lot, €1 billion is a drop in the ocean to the €10 billion pledged by the EU for countries devastated by ‘Storm Boris’ in 2024.