In view of the significant increase in the numbers and severity of natural and man-made disasters in recent years and in a situation where future disasters will be more extreme and more complex with far-reaching and longer-term consequences as a result, in particular, of climate change and the potential interaction between several natural and technological hazards, an integrated approach to disaster management is increasingly important. The European Union should promote solidarity and should support, complement, and facilitate the coordination of Member States' actions in the field of civil protection with a view to improving the effectiveness of systems for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters.
(2)
A Community Civil Protection Mechanism was established by Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom (2), recast by Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom (3). The financing of that Mechanism has been ensured by Council Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom (4) which established a Civil Protection Financial Instrument ("the Financial Instrument"). It provides for Union financial assistance to be given, both as a contribution to improving the effectiveness of the response to major emergencies and to enhancing preventive and preparedness measures for all kinds of emergencies, including the continuation of measures that were previously taken under Council Decision 1999/847/EC (5). The Financial Instrument expires on 31 December 2013.
(3)
The protection to be ensured under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism ("the Union Mechanism") should cover primarily people, but also the environment and property, including cultural heritage, against all kinds of natural and man-made disasters, including environmental disasters, marine pollution and acute health emergencies, occurring inside or outside the Union. Civil protection and other emergency assistance under the Union Mechanism may be required in all of those disasters to complement the response capabilities of the affected country. As regards disasters caused by acts of terrorism, nuclear or radiological accidents, the Union Mechanism should cover only the preparedness and response actions within the field of civil protection.
(4)
The Union Mechanism should also contribute to the implementation of Article 222 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), by making available its resources and capabilities as necessary.
(5)
The Union Mechanism constitutes a visible expression of European solidarity by ensuring a practical and timely contribution to prevention of and preparedness for disasters and the response to disasters and imminent disasters without prejudice to the relevant guiding principles and arrangements in the field of civil protection. This Decision should therefore not affect the reciprocal rights and obligations of the Member States under bilateral or multilateral treaties, which relate to the matters covered by this Decision, nor Member States' responsibility to protect people, the environment, and property on their territory.
(6)
The Union Mechanism should take due account of relevant Union law and international commitments, and exploit synergies with relevant Union initiatives, such as the European Earth Observation Programme (Copernicus), the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) and the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE).
(7)
The role of regional and local authorities in disaster management is of great importance. Regional and local authorities thus need to be appropriately involved in the activities carried out under this Decision in accordance with Member States' national structures.
(8)
Prevention is of key importance for protection against disasters and requires further action as called for in the Council Conclusions of 30 November 2009 and in the European Parliament Resolution of 21 September 2010 on the Commission's Communication entitled a 'Community approach on the prevention of natural and man-made disasters'. The Union Mechanism should include a general policy framework for Union actions on disaster risk prevention, aimed at achieving a higher level of protection and resilience against disasters by preventing or reducing their effects and by fostering a culture of prevention, including due consideration of the likely impacts of climate change and the need for appropriate adaptation action. From this perspective, risk assessments, risk management planning, the assessment of the risk management capability conducted by each Member State at national or appropriate sub-national level involving, as appropriate, other relevant services, an overview of risks prepared at Union level, and peer reviews are essential to ensure an integrated approach to disaster management, linking risk prevention, preparedness and response actions. Therefore, the Union Mechanism should include a general framework for the sharing of information on risks and risk management capabilities without prejudice to Article 346 TFEU, which guarantees that no Member State should be obliged to supply information, the disclosure of which it considers contrary to the essential interests of its security.
(9)
By contributing to the further development and better integration of transnational detection and early warning and alert systems of European interest, the Union should assist Member States in minimising the lead time to respond to disasters and to alert Union citizens. Such systems should take into account and build upon existing and future information sources and systems, while encouraging relevant new technologies.
(10)
The Union Mechanism should include a general policy framework aimed at continuously improving the level of preparedness of civil protection systems, services, their personnel and population within the Union. This should include a programme of exercises, a programme of lessons learnt as well as training programmes and a training network, at Union and Member State level, on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters as called for in the Council Conclusions of 27 November 2008 on European disaster management training arrangements.
(11)
The development of civil protection assistance intervention modules, consisting of the resources of one or more Member States which aim to be fully interoperable, should be pursued in order to strengthen cooperation in the field of civil protection and further develop the Member States' coordinated joint rapid response. Modules should be organised at the level of the Member States and be subject to their command and control.
(12)
The Union Mechanism should facilitate the mobilisation and coordination of assistance interventions. The Union Mechanism should be based on a Union structure consisting of an Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), a European Emergency Response Capacity (EERC) in the form of a voluntary pool of pre-committed capacities from the Member States, trained experts, a Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) managed by the Commission and contact points in the Member States. It should provide a framework for collecting validated information on the situation, for dissemination to the Member States and for sharing lessons learnt from interventions.
(13)
In order to improve the planning of disaster response operations under the Union Mechanism and to enhance the availability of key capacities, it is necessary to develop an EERC in the form of a voluntary pool of pre-committed capacities from the Member States and a structured process to identify potential capacity gaps.
(14)
With respect to disaster response assistance interventions outside the Union, the Union Mechanism should facilitate and support actions undertaken by the Member States and the Union as a whole in order to promote consistency in international civil protection work. The United Nations, in cases where it is present, has an overall coordinating role for relief operations in third countries. Assistance provided under the Union Mechanism should be coordinated with the United Nations and other relevant international actors to maximise the use of available resources and avoid any unnecessary duplication of effort. Enhanced coordination of civil protection assistance through the Union Mechanism is a prerequisite to supporting the overall coordination effort and ensuring a comprehensive Union contribution to the overall relief effort. In disasters where assistance is provided under both the Union Mechanism and Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 (6), the Commission should ensure the effectiveness, coherence and complementarities of the overall Union response respecting the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (7).
(15)
The availability and accessibility of adequate means of transport needs to be improved to support the development of a rapid response capability at the Union level. The Union should support and complement the efforts of the Member States by facilitating the coordination and pooling of transport resources and contributing, where necessary, to the financing of additional means of transport, subject to certain criteria and taking into account existing systems.
(16)
Assistance interventions should be demand driven and subject to full coordination on site so as to maximise the effectiveness and ensure access to affected populations. The Commission should provide appropriate logistical support for the dispatched expert teams.
(17)
The Union Mechanism may also be used for civil protection support to consular assistance to the citizens of the Union in disasters in third countries, if requested by the consular authorities of the Member States concerned. The Member States concerned should, whenever possible, coordinate such requests among each other and with any other relevant actor to ensure the optimal use of the Union Mechanism and avoid practical difficulties on the ground. This support could be requested for instance by the 'Lead State' or the Member State coordinating assistance for all Union citizens. The 'Lead State' concept should be understood in accordance with the European Union guidelines on the implementation of the consular Lead State concept (8). This Decision applies without prejudice to the Union rules on consular protection for citizens of the Union abroad.
(18)
When planning response operations, it is useful to also liaise with relevant non-governmental organisations and other relevant entities to identify any additional response capacities that they may be able to make available in case of disasters via the competent authorities of the Member States.
(19)
The use of military means under civilian lead as a last resort may constitute an important contribution to disaster response. Where the use of military capacities in support of civil protection operations is considered to be appropriate, cooperation with the military should follow the modalities, procedures and criteria established by the Council or its competent bodies for making available to the Union Mechanism military capacities relevant to civil protection and should be in line with the relevant international guidelines.
(20)
When assistance under the Union Mechanism contributes to a Union humanitarian response, particularly in complex emergencies, actions receiving financial assistance under this Decision should be consistent with the humanitarian principles and the principles on the use of civil protection and military resources set out in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.
(21)
Participation of European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries that are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates should be possible. Candidate countries and potential candidates which do not participate in the Union Mechanism, as well as countries which are part of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), should also benefit from certain actions financed under this Decision.
(22)
In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Decision, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with respect to the interaction of the ERCC with the Member States' contact points and the operational procedures for the response to disasters inside and outside the Union; the components of the CECIS and the organisation of information sharing through the CECIS; the process for deploying expert teams; the identification of modules, other response capacities and experts; the operational requirements for the functioning and interoperability of modules; the capacity goals, the quality and interoperability requirements and the certification and registration procedure necessary for the functioning of the EERC, as well as the financial arrangements; identifying and filling gaps in the EERC; the organisation of the training programme, exercise framework and lessons learnt programme; and the organisation of support for the transport of assistance. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).
(23)
The examination procedure should be used for the adoption of the implementing acts provided for in this Decision.
(24)
This Decision strengthens the cooperation between the Union and Member States and facilitates coordination in the field of civil protection, allowing more effective actions by reason of scale and complementarity. Where a disaster overwhelms the response capabilities of a Member State, that State may decide to appeal to the Union Mechanism to complement its own civil protection and other disaster response resources.
(25)
Since the objectives of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of scale or effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
(26)
This Decision does not affect actions falling under a future Union legislative act relating to the establishment of an instrument for stability, the public health measures adopted under Union legal acts concerning Union action programmes in the field of health, nor the consumer safety measures adopted under a future Union legislative act relating to a consumer programme for the period 2014-2020.
(27)
For reasons of coherence, actions falling under Council Decision 2007/124/EC, Euratom (10) and under a future Union legislative act relating to the establishment, as part of the Internal Security Fund, the instrument for financial support for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management or relating to the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security are not covered by this Decision. This Decision does not apply to activities covered by Regulation (EC) No 1257/96.
(28)
The provisions of this Decision are without prejudice to the adoption of legally binding acts under the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, setting out specific emergency measures in case of nuclear or radiological disasters.
(29)
This Decision covers actions in the field of prevention of, preparedness for and response to marine pollution with the exception of actions falling under Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11).
(30)
In order for the Commission to ensure the implementation of this Decision, the Commission may finance such activities relating to preparation, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation as are required for the management of the Union Mechanism and the achievement of its objectives.
(31)
The reimbursement of expenses and award of public procurement contracts and grants under this Decision should be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). Due to the specific nature of action in the field of civil protection, it is appropriate to provide that grants may be awarded to legal persons, whether governed by private or public law. It is also important that the rules of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 be complied with, in particular regarding the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness laid down therein.
(32)
The financial interests of the Union should be protected through proportionate measures throughout the expenditure cycle, including the prevention, detection and investigation of irregularities, the recovery of funds lost, unduly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, administrative and financial penalties in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.
(33)
This Decision lays down a financial envelope for the entire duration of the Union Mechanism which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of Point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (13), for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure. This reference amount is partly fed from Heading 3 'Security and Citizenship' and partly from Heading 4 'Global Europe' of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020.
(34)
The financial envelope for the implementation of this Decision should be allocated according to the percentages set out in Annex I.
(35)
In order to review the breakdown of the financial envelope for the implementation of this Decision by 30 June 2017, in light of the outcome of the interim evaluation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission. The urgency procedure should apply if, at any time, an immediate revision of the budgetary resources available for response actions is needed. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.
(36)
This Decision should apply as of 1 January 2014 as it is related to the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020,
