MEMO/04/73
Brussels, 25 March 2004
Questions and Answers on the EU and Civil
Protection
Why and when was an EU civil protection policy developed?
Member States and neighbouring countries are recurrently affected by natural and
man made disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, terrorist attacks etc. According to
the principle of subsidiarity, the primary responsibility for dealing with the immediate
effects of a disaster lies with the country where the disaster occurs.
Nevertheless, when the scale of the disaster overwhelms national response
capacities, experience has shown that a disaster-stricken country can benefit from
civil protection means or teams available in other Member States. The experience of
major disasters has gradually prompted calls for improvement of Civil Protection
action at EU level.
EU action in the field of Civil Protection has gradually been developed since 1985.
The aim has been to support and encourage efforts made at national level. A first
two-year Action Programme (1998-1999) was followed by a five-year Action
Programme for the period 2000-2004. Upon a proposal by the Commission, the
Council Decision establishing the EU Mechanism for Civil Protection was adopted in
20011. Acceding and candidate countries as well as EEA countries participate to the
EU Mechanism.
The EU responds in different ways according to the type of emergency. When a
disaster strikes a country inside or outside the EU, the Civil Protection Mechanism
provides immediate assistance through the civil protection teams of the participating
countries. During emergencies in third countries, the European Community
Humanitarian Office (ECHO) provides relief to the victims of both natural disasters
and man-made crises in cooperation with its partners (UN agencies, Red Cross,
NGOs).
What are the main activities and resources of the Mechanism?
The Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) is the heart of the Mechanism. It is
permanently linked-on a 24h basis- to the Civil Protection crisis centres of the
participating countries. It is physically located inside the Commission in Brussels.
Two Commission officials are permanently on duty and are in a position to respond
immediately to any assistance request.
The Monitoring and Information Centre basically receives the assistance request,
forwards it to the participating countries and presents to the disaster stricken country
an overview of the assistance available.
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Council Decision 2001/792 establishing a Community Mechanism to facilitate reinforced
cooperation in civil protection assistance
Assistance is sent directly by participating countries. This assistance takes the form
of materials (pumps, tents, blankets etc.) and intervention teams (search and rescue,
fire fighters, etc). Furthermore, for disasters outside the Union, the MIC usually
sends an EU coordination team. This team is usually made up of two or three people
from Member States who are experts in dealing with emergencies. Its role is to
ensure a smooth exchange of information between all European teams and an
optimal sharing of the work between the different teams present on site. For
disasters inside the EU, the MIC can also send liaison officers. The liaison officers
can facilitate the exchange of information between the authorities of the disasterstricken country and the different national teams.
Currently, the annual budget of the Civil Protection Mechanism is €3 million. These
funds are dedicated to actions such as training, exchange of experts and the sending
of coordination or assessment teams on site to disaster-struck countries.
When has the Mechanism been used in practice?
Since 2002, the Mechanism has been used nearly 50 times. Nearly half of the cases
were related to emergencies inside the Union. EU assistance has intervened
efficiently in a number of recent disasters, such as the summer 2002 floods in
Central and Eastern Europe, the Prestige oil spill at the end of 2002, forests fires in
summer 2003, floods in France in December 2003, the Algerian earthquake in May
2003, the Iran earthquake in December 2003 and the Moroccan earthquake in
February 2004.
Is the Mechanism active in preventing disasters/attacks?
The Mechanism aims at enhancing the response to disasters. But training and
exercises are carried out with a view to improve the preparedness and the response.
A budget of € 1.5 million is earmarked annually for such activities, under the Civil
Protection Action Programme. The Mechanism cannot prevent any disaster from
happening, but it can greatly contribute to minimizing the consequences of such
disasters.
Can the EU Civil Protection Mechanism help populations in the event
of a major terrorist attack?
Yes, as civil protection means and teams are used for all types of disasters,
whatever the origin. Already, in the aftermath of the September 11 events, the Heads
of State and Government called for improved coordination in the civil protection field
and the implementation of the Mechanism was boosted. During the recent bomb
attacks in Madrid, the EU Mechanism remained in close contact with the Spanish
authorities in order to channel assistance, where needed. Several Member States
offered assistance through the Monitoring and Information Centre. The MIC could
rapidly channel the offers for assistance, such as field hospitals or special beds for
severely burnt people. On that occasion, the Spanish authorities did not request any
EU civil protection assistance, but appreciated very much the possibility of having a
rapid overview of the means that could be offered in case of need. This most recent
emergency shows the importance of offering rapid assistance through a one stop
shop.
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Is anything foreseen for the Athens Olympic Games?
The Commission has established contact with the Greek authorities in order to see
how best the EU Civil Protection Mechanism could contribute to respond to any
major disaster that might happen.
The Commission could organise an ad hoc exercise in order to test the
communication flow. It could also, on the basis of pre-defined scenarios, confirm with
Member States which specific assistance could be available and put on stand-by for
the Olympic Games.
What lessons have we learnt from past exercises?
‘Lessons learnt’ exercises are always carried out after intervention of the
Mechanism. While specialised services, such as the Joint Research Centre, focus on
the causes of the accidents or disasters, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism
analyses the response to the disasters and more particularly the strength and the
weak points of the EU assistance. For example, past exercises have shown that the
interoperability of equipment is becoming increasingly important. At present, the civil
protection teams operating abroad are usually self-sufficient and come with their own
equipment. In the future, provided that sufficient training is given, such teams should
be able to use specific foreign equipment. This would also require the compatibility of
technical equipment.
What is the purpose of the new Communication?
The aim of the document adopted by the Commission today is to present and assess
the functioning of the EU Mechanism, discern the shortcoming of the system as well
as suggest the improvements needed in order to reinforce the EU response capacity.
Two years after its entry into force, the EU Mechanism has shown that it can work to
the benefit of participating countries, but experience has also shown the limits of the
current system and revealed a number of issues which require special attention.
What are the problems we are facing?
Member States have the primary responsibility for protecting their populations. They
have in most cases appropriate teams and the necessary equipment to deal with the
main recurring disasters.
Nevertheless, under very exceptional circumstances, the means, equipment or
intervention teams may not be sufficient. Major marine pollution, unprecedented
forest fires or floods are only examples of disasters for which costly equipment is
needed. Major earthquakes may also overwhelm the capacity of the national Search
and Rescue teams.
In a context of emerging risks, where the likelihood of some hazards is increasing
while new threats, such as the Nuclear, Radiological, Biological or Chemical ones,
are arising, extreme pressure is put on the civil protection services. Very specialised
equipment is needed to deal with a series of threats and hazards but it is
impracticable, in particular for small countries, to be perfectly prepared against each
and every possibility. In practice, should each and every country invest in buying
specialised equipment and training teams to face situations that they may never
have to face on their territory?
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France, for example, needed an large quantity of high capacity pumps to deal with
the December 2003 floods but will hopefully not need this equipment again for
several years. It is however possible that in the meantime other participating
countries, when facing similar emergencies, might need such equipment.
What is needed to ensure a better coordinated EU response to
disasters in future?
There would be obvious economies of scale in pooling, sharing and rationalising the
efforts between Member States. This strategy would however only work if all
participating countries are well aware of what the others have at their disposal, and
are trained to work together. It also requires that the corresponding means could be
brought within a reasonable short time period where needed. In that context, the
questions of response time and transport costs are of paramount importance.
Efficient communication between the Commission, a country hit by a disaster and
countries granting the assistance is also of great importance. The information about
the disaster and the assistance already offered is vital to the efficient coordination of
assistance.
Why is it important to know what equipment and teams are available in
the different Member States?
A well coordinated response has, firstly, to be based on efficient and reliable
information and communication. The Commission’s Monitoring and Information
Centre has created a database of intervention teams and means which exist in
different Member States, but it is still incomplete and does not allow for a
comprehensive overview of assistance available. Therefore, this information cannot
be shared and Member States do not know what could be available in the other
countries. It is therefore very important to update it in order to assure an effective
and rapid response. The Commission asks Member States to send all relevant
information to the Commission, so that it can continue building up the database. This
is also a first step towards a rationalisation, with a view to ensure that the EU, as a
whole, is not over equipped to face some emergencies and under equipped to face
others.
Why do we need training and exercises at EU level?
It is very important that teams from different countries are used to working together,
sharing, if necessary, their equipment. Intervening abroad, or including foreign teams
in contingency plans, are real logistical challenges. But the Mechanism is well suited
to address such challenges. It is also important that each Member State fully trusts
the intervention teams coming from other Member States. To that effect the
Commission organises training courses, joint exercises and also an exchange of
experts programme. These activities will contribute in future to the creation of the
European Civil Protection Corps drawn from different national units in case of need.
In its Communication, the Commission announces that ten training courses for 220
experts will be organised and evaluated in the first half of 2004 (EU finance of €1.1
million). Another 14 courses for 330 participants have recently been identified and
will take place in 2004/5 (EU finance of €1.7 million). The Commission has also set
up an Exchange of Experts Programme to share experience and enhance
cooperation between experts from participating countries (EU finance €0.8 million).
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Why do financial issues of assistance need to be addressed at EU
level?
Financing has proved to be a critical issue as very often relief assistance is available
but there are serious problems of transporting it to the site of disaster. Therefore, the
Communication raises the question of financing of transportation and also assistance
costs for intervention inside and outside the EU.
What are the Commission’s proposals to address the current financial
shortcomings?
Currently the budget of the EU Mechanism does not provide for the financing of
assistance. The bulk of these costs is transportation of the help offered. During
recent emergencies, the participating states were ready to send assistance but could
not provide its transportation to the site. Therefore, the Commission suggests
reinforcing of European Solidarity towards not only Member States but also third
countries by financing the transportation of assistance in case of an emergency.
When a Member State cannot afford the assistance itself the EU should also be able
to help. These funding possibilities could be included in the post-2006 financial
perspectives.
What is the added value of the Commission’s action in civil protection
assistance?
By working together at EU level we can share expertise, pool resources and be
better prepared for any emergency. Moreover, providing assistance to a Member
State stricken by a disaster is a tangible expression of the solidarity between
European people. Economies of scale, for example by transporting equipment and
teams from Europe to third countries, can also be achieved when disasters strike
outside the European Union.
A country hit by a disaster can count not only on EU resources in all fields but also
on the assistance of intervention teams that are multinational, complementary and
used to working together. These teams, which have the latest technical resources at
their disposal, can be coordinated under the Commission's responsibility by the
European experts best qualified to deal with this type of disaster.
What is the link between the EU Mechanism and other international
actors involved in the response and disaster relief?
The EU Mechanism is liaising with the relevant international organisations with a
view to avoid any duplication of efforts during the acute phase of the emergency. It
can provide coordinated EU assistance which will be an asset to the international
organisations on site.
In crisis management situations, ie complex crises in which the EU is intervening as
part of its Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Civil Protection Mechanism can
also be used as part of an EU led operation. In such cases, the political decisions are
taken at Council level. Well identified resources, such as armed forces, may be
called upon to ensure protection of the Civil Protection resources.
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Will the EU establish a Civil Protection Force?
At present, response to disasters coordinated by the Monitoring and Information
Centre in the framework of the EU Mechanism is based on the national teams sent
to the site of an emergency.
It may not be cost efficient to establish a permanent body with means, equipment
and personnel on standby for any possible disaster. This would mean investing in
maintenance of the equipment and of permanent training of the personnel etc. It
would be very difficult to have the adequate response at hand for all types of
disaster.
Through increased training, joint exercises and exchange of experts, the
Commission will continue to improve the efficient cooperation between the
respective national teams. These activities will contribute to the creation of the
European Civil Protection Corps, recognisable by European insignia, such as coats
and tents. This corps would be drawn from different national units in case of need.
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