The Floods Directive (Directive 2007/60/EC) is legislation in the European Parliament on the assessment and management of flood risks. The floods directive basically prescribes a three-step procedure:
First step: Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment: The Floods Directive requires Member States to engage their government departments, agencies and other bodies to draw up a Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment. This assessment has to consider impacts on human health and life, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity, with a legislative completion date of December 2011.