Implementation of the floods directive in selected EU member states

To reduce the flood risk at European scale, the Floods Directive (FD) became into force in 2007. Each member state had transposed the directive in national laws and guidelines, generating a quite spotted situation. This work is intended to compare and briefly assess the implementation process on rivers in selected European countries by means of the available literature and a specific questionnaire. Different structures, methodologies and data conditions used for preliminary flood risk assessment, flood hazard maps, flood risk maps and flood risk management plans are here presented and analysed. To minimise the flood risk, the technical differences between the EU countries need to be reduced in the next implementation cycles of the FD.