Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2011)934 - Union Civil Protection Mechanism - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2011)934 - Union Civil Protection Mechanism. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2011)934  |
| date | 20-12-2011 |
This proposal is to replace the Council Decisions on the Civil Protection Mechanism,[1] which facilitates reinforced cooperation between the Member States and the Union in the field of civil protection and the Civil Protection Financial Instrument,[2] which provides funding for the actions under the Mechanism to ensure protection against natural and man-made disasters.
After a comprehensive evaluation of the Civil Protection legislation for the period 2007-2009 i and taking account of lessons learnt from past emergencies, this proposal merges the two Council Decisions in a single legal act. The financial provisions should be viewed in the context of the proposals for the financial perspective 2014-2020, as outlined in the Commission's Communication from 29 June 2011 on A Budget for Europe 2020 i.
Based on the new Treaty Article 196 for civil protection policy, the aim of the Mechanism is to support, coordinate and supplement the actions of the Member States in the field of civil protection in improving the effectiveness of systems for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters of all kinds within and outside the Union. Specific objectives include (a) to achieve a high level of protection against disasters by preventing or reducing their effects and by fostering a culture of prevention (b) to enhance the Union's state of preparedness to respond to disasters (c) to facilitate rapid and efficient emergency response interventions in the event of major disasters.
The proposal builds on the 2010 Commission Communication Towards a stronger European disaster response: the role of civil protection and humanitarian assistance and the 2009 Communication on A Community approach on the prevention of natural and man-made disasters.
The proposal contributes to Europe's 2020 objectives and to increasing the security of EU citizens and building resilience to natural and man-made disasters as an important part of the Stockholm Programme and the EU Internal Security Strategy. Furthermore, by supporting and promoting measures to prevent disasters, EU Civil Protection policy would reduce the costs to the EU economy from disasters and therefore obstacles to growth. The higher level of protection of citizens, material assets and the environment would minimise the adverse social, economic and environmental impact of disasters likely to affect the most vulnerable regions and people and thus contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive growth.
The proposal also makes a significant contribution to simplification. The new decision merges into a single text the provisions relating to the functioning of the Mechanism and those relating to the financing of its activities, that in the past were in separate decisions. It also simplifies the existing procedures for the pooling and co-financing of the transport of assistance (e.g. by avoiding a systematic reimbursement of 50%, as is the case under the current rules, and by appointing a lead state in transport operations involving several Member States), thereby significantly reducing the administrative burden on the Commission and Member States. It also establishes simplified rules for the activation of the Mechanism in emergencies in third countries.
The strengthened Mechanism will contribute to the implementation of the Solidarity Clause, on which the European Commission and the High Representative will bring forward a proposal in 2012.
Two legal instruments govern civil protection cooperation at the EU level: i Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom of 8 November 2007 establishing a Community Civil Protection Mechanism (recast) and i Council Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom of 5 March 2007 establishing a Civil Protection Financial Instrument both repealed by this Decision.
Particular attention has been given to ensure close coordination between civil protection and humanitarian aid, as well as consistency with actions carried out under other EU policies and instruments, in particular in the fields of justice, liberty and security policy, including consular support and protection of critical infrastructure, environment, in particular flood management and control of major accidental hazards; climate change adaptation; health; marine pollution; external relations and development.
Consistency with other EU financial instruments is ensured by a number of provisions which clearly define the scope of the instrument and exclude double financing.
An impact assessment report was prepared to examine policy options and their impacts, including all relevant aspects of an ex-ante evaluation.[11] The impact assessment process was accompanied by an Impact Assessment Steering Group involving 21 Commission services and benefitted from input of an external study.
Three targeted stakeholder consultations[12] were carried out, in addition to a series of stakeholder events preceding the Commission's 2010 Disaster Response Communication.[13]
Other interested stakeholders are actors active in the field of emergency management, the humanitarian community, UN bodies, research, internal security, environment, foreign policy and other related policy areas.
All comments by stakeholders were fully considered and are reflected in the impact assessment report.
The main problems identified are: i Reactive and ad hoc mechanics of the EU Civil protection cooperation limit the effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of European disaster response, i Unavailability of critical response capacities (capacity gaps), i Limited transport solutions and heavy procedures hinder optimal response, i Limited preparedness in training and exercises, and Lack of integration of prevention policies.
Availability of assistance: i voluntary pool without EU financing; i voluntary pool with a limited EU co-financing; and i voluntary pool with a higher degree of EU co-financing; as well as a wider range of options (from discontinuation to the EU Civil Protection Force);
Addressing capacity gaps: i no EU action; i supporting Member States in developing the deficit capacity; i filling the gaps with EU level capacities;
Addressing limited logistical and financial resources for transport: i discontinuation of the scheme; i no policy change; i increase of the maximum co-financing for the most urgent priority needs; and i increase of the maximum co-financing across the board;
Simplification of transport provisions: i no policy change; i simplification of the current transport provisions;
Preparedness: i no new EU legislation; no increase in EU funding; i general EU preparedness policy framework without binding provisions plus supplementary EU funding; i EU funding for national training conditional on training centres meeting certain minimum requirements;
Prevention: i no new EU legislation no increase in EU funding; i general EU prevention policy framework without binding provisions plus supplementary EU funding; i completion of national disaster risk management plans by a certain date;
The impact assessment is submitted with this proposal.
Contents
- LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
- BUDGETARY IMPLICATION
- Grounds for and objectives of the proposal
- Existing provisions in the area of the proposal
- Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union
- 2. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
- Consultation of interested parties
- Impact assessment
- The impact assessment assessed a number of policy options
- Summary of the proposed action
The text follows a structure based on the main four blocks of civil protection policy: prevention, preparedness, response and the external dimension plus a chapter on the financial provisions.
(a) Objectives, subject matter and scope
One of the changes is to align the subject matter of the Mechanism with the new Treaty Article 196 which advocates an integrated approach to disaster management. The general objective is addressed in Article 1 and further detailed in specific objectives and supported by indicators to measure the progress (Article 3).
The Scope (Article 2) for actions to assist with the response to disasters applies inside and outside the Union. Prevention and preparedness measures cover the Union, and certain third countries mentioned in Article 28.
(b) Prevention
The proposal introduces a new chapter on prevention with a view to enhancing the importance of the EU prevention policy framework and effectively linking it to the preparedness and response actions.
Article 5 sets out the tasks for the Commission which are based on the 2009 Prevention Communication and on Council Conclusions.
Building on the ongoing work on risk assessments and to ensure effective cooperation within the Mechanism, Member States are required to communicate their risk management plans by end 2016 (Article 6). These are an important planning instrument and contribute to a coherent risk management policy, as outlined in the EU Internal Security Strategy[14].
(c) Preparedness
The main focus is placed on preparedness actions to improve the response planning, to enhance EU response capacity and the overall level of preparedness for large-scale disasters. The provisions are based on the proposals from the 2010 Disaster Response Communication and the Council Conclusions on European disaster management training[15]. The main changes include:
· Establishing and managing of a Emergency Response Centre ('ERC'). The ERC will be built on the existing Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), which should be strengthened to ensure 24/7 operational capacity; (Article 7 (a)).
· Developing a coherent planning framework for response operations by preparing reference scenarios, mapping existing capacities and developing contingency plans for their deployment. Synergies between in-kind assistance and humanitarian aid are also sought; (Article 10).
· Establishing a European Emergency Response Capacity in the form of a voluntary pool of pre-identified capacities, which Member States make available for operations under the Mechanism. The need for increased visibility of the capacities is also highlighted; (Article 11).
· Identification and filling gaps in the response capacities by supporting the development of complementary EU-funded capacities, where this has been considered more cost-efficient than Member States' individual investments. A special monitoring procedure is envisaged and the Commission is obliged to report every two years to the Council and the Parliament on the progress; (Article 12).
· Enlarging the scope of the current EU preparedness actions in the field of training, including through the establishment of a training network and diversification of the training programme. The Commission can also provide guidance on EU and international civil protection training; (Article 13).
· Sending expert teams to advise on prevention and preparedness measures at the request of an affected state or the UN and its agencies; (Article 13(2)).
· Providing the possibility to assist Member States in pre-positioning emergency response capacities in logistical hubs inside the EU (Article 7(f)).
(d) Response
The proposed changes aim to ensure more effective and swifter reponse through:
· Temporary pre-positioning of capacities in situations of increased risk; (Article 15.2).
· Proposal of an emergency response plan and request for deployment of the capacities; (Article 15 i (c)).
· Requiring Member States to ensure host nation support for the incoming assistance, as called for in the Council Conclusions on Host Nation support[16] (Article 15(6)).
(e) External dimension of civil protection operations:
In operations outside the Union, the proposal promotes consistency in the international civil protection work through:
· Providing assistance through the Mechanism at the request of the United Nations or its agencies, or a relevant international organisation; (Article 16(1)).
· the Commission informing the European External Action Service to allow for consistency between civil protection operation and the overall EU relations with the affected country; (Article 16.3).
· Clarifying the cases when consular support assistance can be provided, taking into account a forthcoming proposal for a Council Directive on coordination and cooperation measures regarding consular protection for unrepresented EU citizens; (Article16(7)).
(f) Financial support provisions
The financial provisions are incorporated in a new chapter. The eligible actions (Articles 20-23) are grouped in general, prevention and preparedness, response and transport, and include support for the new actions proposed above. The provisions relating to the support for transport under the current Instrument are amended and simplified and introduce revised conditions for financing increasing the co-financing rates up to 85% of the total eligible cost and up to 100% in limited cases when certain criteria are met.
New provisions allow one Member State to take the lead in requesting EU financial support for operations, which involve several Member States and allowing an affected Member State requesting assistance to request also co-financing of transport costs.
Changes are also introduced to the types of financial intervention to allow for the reimbursement of expenses and the establishment of trust funds. In the case of grants and public procurement, it will not be necessary to include emergency response related operations in the annual work programme of the Commission (Article 25). The financial provisions of this Decision should apply as of 1 January 2014 as they are related to the Multi-annual Financial Framework 2014-2020.
(g) Legal basis
The legal basis of this proposal is Article 196 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
(h) Subsidiarity principle
The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States acting on their own.
The Mechanism was established because major disasters can overwhelm the response capacities of any Member State, which can no longer cope alone. EU action in this field involves managing situations with a strong trans-/multinational component, which necessarily require overall coordination and concerted action beyond the national level. The joint work on prevention and risk management can progress faster thanks to exchange of experience and reinforced coherence at EU level.
Taking into account the benefits in terms of reducing the loss of human life, environmental, economic and material damage, the proposal brings clear EU added value. It allows Member States to contribute more effectively to EU assistance under the Mechanism and to benefit from improved coordination and cooperation. The proposal would increase the level of preparedness for large scale disasters and create a more coherent disaster risk management policy. A coherent and effective response would be ensured through the rapid response capacity ready to help everywhere where needed.
The proposal furthermore pursues economies of scale, such as cost-effective logistics and transport, coherent and effective response through the voluntary pool of capacities and better use of scarce resources by sharing the EU-funded capacities.
(i) Proportionality principle
The proposal does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives. It addresses shortfalls that have been identified in past interventions and builds on the mandates given by the Council and the European Parliament.
The administrative burden falling upon the Union and Member States is limited and does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the review. The certification and registration procedure for the capacities is simple and will be executed through the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS)[17]. Member States are obliged only to inform the Commission on the completion of the risk management plans, in order to ensure consistency with the work on pre-planning and scenario development.
No specific format beyond what the Financial Regulation provides is required for submitting applications for funding. Particular attention has been given to ensure that the procedures to be followed in the event of major disasters provide for the necessary flexibility and allow urgent action to be taken.
(j) Choice of instrument
Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.
The Commission's Communication on A Budget for Europe 2020[18] envisages budgetary commitments for the EU civil protection policy of EUR 513 million in current prices, as follows: EUR 276 million inside the Union and EUR 237 million for operations outside the Union.