In 1993 and 1995, the rivers Rhine and Meuse flooded their banks twice within a thirteen-month period. Because the catchment areas of these two rivers are located in more than one country, flood control inevitably became a matter of co-operation between the relevant authorities. Flanders, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Wallonia submitted a joint flood control programme to the European Commission within the framework of its INTERREG II-C initiative. This programme was approved on 18 December 1997 and was given the name IRMA, which stands for INTERREG Rhine-Meuse Activities. Besides the EU Member States mentioned, Switzerland was also participating in this programme on a project basis.

The programme has been completed at the beginning of 2003. During the six-year period of IRMA (1997-2003), almost 153 projects were carried out in the catchment area of the Meuse and Rhine.

Profile of the area and problem analysis
Objectives, principles and strategy of the IRMA programme
Themes and measures
Financial aspects
Operational aspects

No rights may be derived from the information contained in this web site