This is the first thing I heard in Romania, from Prime Minister Boc. It is a familiar saying – it is in hard times that friendship is put to the test.  These days Romania is a friend in need, and it is very rewarding for me as European Commissioner to see that Europe, once again, has passed the most telling of tests of friendship. 

I am just coming back from the town of Galati, on the shore of the Danube, one of the cities with the highest risk of flooding.  I was briefed on the situation in a building with views over the Danube banks. From the window you could see two sandbag dikes, built the day before, to protect the streets from the rising river. While I listened to the explanations of Colonel Nemes, deputy head of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, heavy rain was hitting the window glass. The noise was a cause for concern for all in the room, and with good reason. The floods have killed 23 people. 90,000 had been evacuated from their homes. 329 roads are affected and the economic and material damage will take a long time to repair. Colonel Nemes explained that the Danube was so loaded with water that the flow of subsidiary rivers had been reversed.

The rains that previously affected other countries in Europe have now arrived in Romania. Disasters move freely from one country to another – but so does solidarity. Earlier in the day, under threatening clouds, but without rain, I visited the Belgian “B-Fast” rapid reaction team. They were operating a water purification system and a number of pumps (some coming from Austria) in a flooded industrial site in Galati.  Belgium, Austria, France and Estonia were the first to respond after Romania activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on the 2^nd of July. Only two days later, offers came from Poland, Hungary and Germany and also from my home-land Bulgaria. 

Solidarity is a game of give and take. Poland and Hungary benefited from European support during their own flooding and were now heading the list of generosity.  And so it was with Romania as well. Two days ago, when the neighboring Republic of Moldova called for EU help as its own rivers started breaking their banks, it was Romania that made the first offer of support.

I come back from Romania with three important lessons.

First, there is a very real added value of European coordination in disaster response.  We have seen that the EU Civil Protection Mechanism can direct member state assistance to ensure that the right help gets to the right place and with minimum delay.  It does a great job. But I am also convinced that a more closely coordinated European response will not only be more effective but also more cost effective (an important consideration in these difficult times).

Second, climate change is a reality that means that natural disasters are going to be more frequent and more devastating. As I left Bucharest the TV in the airport was showing images of flooding in Mexico. Next week I am travelling to Greece to discuss forest fires. Risks are increasing and we need to think of ways to better prevent, prepare for and manage all kinds of crises. I will be presenting a proposal for strengthening EU disaster response capacity later in the year – all my work so far has raised my sense of urgency in moving it forward. Some of the main ideas have already been put forward in a consultation paper and I would be very interested in hearing the thoughts from readers of this blog.

The third and the most important lesson I take home is that the foundation of a more effective EU disaster response capability is already there. It can be found in the instinct and willingness to help out our neighbors when they are in need. The floods in Poland, in Hungary and in Romania show that disasters do not stop at national borders, but neither does European solidarity.

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Tags: B Fast, Boc, Consultation, Flood, Galati, Kristalina Georgieva, Romania