The German government wants the EU to help pay for rebuilding after devastating floods ravaged parts of the country last week.
The federal government plans to provide 200 million euros in emergency aid to repair buildings, infrastructure and to help people in crisis situations, a document seen by Reuters showed, with a further 200 million to be provided in local government funding.Â
The clean-up and repair costs are expected to rise into the many billions.
Flooding has devastated parts of Western Europe since last Wednesday, with the German states of Rhineland Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as parts of Belgium, among the worst hit.
In the Ahrweiler district south of Cologne, at least 117 people were killed, and police warned the death toll would almost certainly rise as the clean-up continues.
The high death toll has raised questions around why so many people seemed to have been surprised by the flash flooding, with opposition politicians claiming the disaster exposed serious failings in Germany’s flood preparedness.
German officials have rejected allegations that they failed to properly warn people of the severity of the floods, but conceded that more lessons could be learned.
