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European Commission - Questions and answers
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Questions and answers - EU that protects: The EU's plan to strengthen
civil protection has entered into force
Brussels, 21 May 2019
In March 2019 new legislation strengthening the Union Civil
Protection Mechanism entered into force. Its new element – additional rescEU
reserve capacity is now a reality that boosts the EU's ability to respond to
and prepare for natural and man-made disasters.
The new legislation to strengthen the existing EU Civil Protection
Mechanism boosts EU financial and operational support to disaster response
systems of the Member States and participating countries. Concretely, it
gradually establishes an additional reserve of capacities, called rescEU. The
new system also sees greater investment in preparedness activities and
knowledge sharing.
Why did the Commission propose the rescEU initiative in 2017?
Every year, forest fires, severe floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides
but also man-made disasters (terrorist attacks; chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear – CBRN - incidents) result in loss of lives and
devastate whole regions. Climate change will further exacerbate the impacts of
disasters in the future. In 2018 alone, natural disasters killed more than 100
people in Europe. The economic costs are also huge: close to €10 billion in
damages on the European continent were recorded in 2016. Last year's forest
fire season reminded us once again that the EU must be better equipped to
protect its citizens from disasters. In the same time the security environment
gets more complex. With rescEU the EU now takes concrete operational steps to
better prevent, prepare and respond to all kind of disasters.
Building on the existing Mechanism, the newly established rescEU
creates an additional reserve of capacities to respond to disasters, owned and
hosted by Member States, ready to be deployed when needed. The composition of
this additional rescEU reserve is based on an analysis of disaster risks in the
Union and existing gaps in disaster response and preparedness activities across
Member States. Initially, rescEU capacities will include firefighting planes
and helicopters. Further means will be added over time, including in those
needed to respond to medical emergencies or chemical, biological, radiological
and nuclear incidents.
When will rescEU be operational?
Forest fires do not wait. Transitional arrangements are put in place
right now to ensure that the EU can draw upon available assets to fight forest
fires already in 2019. During a transitional period (until 2025), the EU will
integrate national means into rescEU with EU co-financing (75%) of their
‘stand-by' costs.
To date, a total of 7 firefighting planes (6 Canadairs and 1 Dash 8)
and 6 helicopters were offered to compose the “rescEU transition” fleet in
2019. The Commission is in contact with other Participating States who have
also expressed interest in contributing.
Other rescEU capacities will be developed over time, in particular in
the field of medical emergencies (MEDEVAC, Field hospitals (EMT-3 type), etc.)
and events related to chemical, biological, radio-nuclear hazards (CBRN).
Preliminary technical discussions are taking place with Member States to agree
on the type of capacities and numbers needed to be developed under rescEU. The
strengthened support to deployment from the European Civil Protection Pool also
takes immediate effect upon formal adoption of the revised legislation.
How does rescEU work operationally?
rescEU capacities are to be used whenever Member States cannot cope
with a disaster themselves and require extra EU assistance that needs to be
delivered fast. It is an additional “safety net”. A great part of operational
costs, as well as costs for developing rescEU capacities will be covered by EU
financing. rescEU capacities are owned and hosted by Member States. The
Commission, in close cooperation with Member States requesting assistance, as
well as those owning rescEU capacities decides on the deployment of these
capacities.
How does the EU support Member State solidarity through the use of
national capacities in the European Civil Protection Pool?
The new policy also includes a number of new provisions that help
Member States boost existing capacities and contribute more to the European
Civil Protection Pool:
The new legislation aims to incentivise Member States (and
Participating States) to help each other in times of need. Concretely, the EU
is co-financing assets that Member States put in the European Civil Protection
Pool at 75% of operational costs when used inside the EU (or a Participating
State) and 75% of transport costs for deployment outside EU.
The new legislation aims to make all existing national assets
operational for international deployment. When national capacities need an
upgrade or repair for an international response, Member States can request EU
co-financing (75% of that upgrade/repair cost provided it does not exceed 50%
of development cost of the capacity). These capacities in turn become part of
the European Civil Protection Pool and are used to respond to future disasters.
The new legislation establishes a Civil Protection Knowledge Network
to support all civil protection actors across Europe, bringing together a full
range of expertise on disasters. This allows all disaster response actors to
learn from each other and to speak "the same technical language".
The Commission works together with Member States ensuring that
investments undertaken via the Structural Funds are "disaster proof".
Investments take into account national risk assessments. In addition, the
Commission has simplified the reporting approach. In cases where Member States
need further support, the Commission makes recommendations on national
prevention and preparedness measures.
European Civil Protection Pool: how many assets and from which
countries?
The European Civil Protection Pool (former "European Emergency
Response Capacity") comprises over 100 response capacities offered to the
Pool, committed by 23 different Participating States.[1] These include assets such as
firefighting teams and aircraft, flood containment, water purification, and
chemical biological, radiological and nuclear detection and sampling.
Experience has shown that pre-committed capacities are not always enough,
because disasters can occur simultaneously. The Commission therefore
strengthens the European Civil Protection Pool by providing increased Union
financing to Member States for the adaptation, repair and operating costs of
Pool capacities. This provides a significant additional incentive to Member
States to commit their capacities to the European Civil Protection Pool.
Does this new structure also work for activations of the Union Civil
protection Mechanism outside the EU?
The new policy focuses on strengthening the EU and Member States'
collective ability to respond to disasters in Europe. However, as is the case
now, any third country or international organisation can activate the Mechanism
and make a request for assistance. The European Civil Protection Pool can be
mobilised. The Union budget covers the transport costs of these operations (75%
of transport costs).
In those cases where disasters affect Member State territories and EU
citizens abroad, rescEU can also be mobilised. Operational and transport costs
are then entirely covered by Union funding. The Participating States of the
Union Civil Protection Mechanism (Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia,
Montenegro and Turkey) equally benefit from the new possibilities offered under
rescEU.
How does the new legislation improve preparedness and prevention?
Prevention and preparedness are the cornerstones of an effective
response to natural disasters. Investment in disaster prevention has a clear
benefit – saving lives and livelihoods as well as minimising economic and
physical damage. The new policy strengthens disaster prevention and continues
to support Member States in improving their disaster risk management. Through a
simplified reporting framework the EU asks Member States to report on key risks
through risk assessment and risk management capabilities summaries, as well as
to provide additional information on prevention and preparedness measures
related to key risks with a cross-border nature or those low probability risks
with high impact.
The legislation also provides targeted support to the Member States
frequently affected by severe disasters to strengthen their prevention and
preparedness through the establishment of consultation mechanisms, and the
possibility to deploy expert missions and to make recommendations.
How many times has the Union Civil Protection Mechanism been
activated since 2014?
Over the last five years (2014-2019), the Mechanism was activated
more than 100 times for disasters both inside and outside the EU.
How much does rescEU cost?
The new legislation foresees a budget increase of around two hundred
(200)* million euro for the upcoming two years (2019-2020).
[* this number takes into account expected budgetary decrease from
€242 million to allow for increase of share of redeployments given Member
States position]
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