Rampen op de grens van ons kunnen

Disasters on the border of our abilities

 

Disasters do not take into account geopolitical boundaries. Each country has its own structures and legislation to deal with. When a disaster occurs at or around national borders and cooperation is necessary, the existing structures and legislation of the countries involved must be able to reconcile.

 

In this article, the current situation between neighboring countries Belgium and the Netherlands is discussed. The legislation and structures for disaster management per country, as well as the possible obstacles in case of cooperation are described. Several agreements have already been made at a regional, provincial and national level. A legal framework has also been created at European level to facilitate international aid. However, there are still several obstacles to overcome. The disaster management of neighboring countries does not seem to be well known to aid workers, the communication between countries is not yet optimal and international exercises are hardly carried out. Therefore, a couple of recommendations to improve international cooperation in the border areas are given.