1. The New Union Civil Protection Mechanism
Information day
3 rd March, Budapest
The New Union Civil Protection Mechanism
Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council,
No 1313/2013/EU of 17 December 2013
DG ECHO

2. Fundamentals of Civil Protection
Responsibility: MS are responsible for the security and the safety of their citizens and foreigners on their territory.
Solidarity: MS have the responsibility to support other Member States affected by a disaster when needed. (re-enforced by Lisbon Treaty Solidarity Clause)
Call for assistance: MS and third countries can call for assistance when overwhelmed by a disaster. After needs identification, they are responsible to receive / and for the use of EU/foreign assistance.
Voluntary: Level of support / assistance is determined by the MS providing assistance.
Commission as facilitator: EU supports preparation, facilitates cooperation, coordination and complements MS. (Art 196 Lisbon Treaty)

3. The Civil Protection Mechanism
Framework for cooperation in disaster response, preparedness and prevention
Response: Facilitates cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions in the event of major disasters inside and outside the EU
Preparedness: Training, exercises, exchange of experts, modules
Prevention: Support MS in preventing risks or reducing harm to people, the environment or property resulting from emergencies
31 participating countries: 28 MS + Iceland, Norway, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

4. DG Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection - ECHO
ECHO A
Strategy, Policy,
International Cooperation
ECHO B
Humanitarian Aid and
Civil Protection Operations
ECHO C
Resources, Partnerships and
Operational Support
A1 Strategy, Coordination
and Inter-institutional Relations
B1 Emergency Response
C1 Human resources,
Security,
Document Management
A2 Information and
Communication
B2 Central Africa,
Sudan, Chad
C2 Budget, Audit,
Informatics
A3 Policy and Implementation,
Frameworks
B3 East, West and Southern
Africa, Indian Ocean
C3 Finance, Legal Affairs,
Partner support
A4 Specific Thematic Policies
B4 European Neighbourhood,
Middle East,
Central and SW Asia
C4 Field network,
Transport and Logistics
A5 Civil Protection Policy,
Prevention, Preparedness and
Disaster Risk Reduction
B5 Asia, Latin America,
Caribbean, Pacific

5. Integrating humanitarian aid and civil protection
What?
Active donor
Programming and policy development in the field of humanitarian aid
Voluntary contributions of assistance in kind from Member States (experts, specialised teams, equipment, other material assistance).
To whom?
Implementing partners
(UN specialised agencies / Red Cross/Crescent movement/ NGOs / international organisations)
Government of affected country, upon request from them, or upon request from a UN agency or an international organization.(New legislation)
Geographical scope?
The most vulnerable populations outside the European Union, mainly in developing countries.
Inside and outside the European Union.
Type of disaster?
Natural and man-made disasters.
Natural and man-made disasters (complex emergencies rather the exception).
Timescale?
Immediate aftermath of crisis and beyond (presence of humanitarian needs - resilience).
Acute stage only (normally max. 2-3 weeks).

6. Types of disasters covered by UCPM
Natural disasters - Floods, earthquakes, forest fires, cyclones
Manmade disasters - Environmental disasters (HU alkali sludge accident 2010) - Complex emergencies (Iraq, Syria)
Health emergencies - Ebola epidemic
Assistance to consular support - Terrorist attacks (medical evacuation Mumbai) - Evacuation of EU citizens from Libya and TCN from Tunisia/Egypt

7. Main focus of Decision No 1313/2013/EU
Culture of prevention and preparedness
Replacing ad-hoc response with a pre-planned approach
Supporting Member States on capacity developments

8. Disaster prevention: Member States' actions
Develop risk assessments and make available to the Commission a summary of the relevant elements thereof within two years and then every three years
Develop and refine their disaster risk management planning
Make available to the Commission an assessment of their risk management capability
Participate, on a voluntary basis, in peer reviews

9. Disaster prevention: Commission's actions
Promote Member States' risk assessments and mapping through the sharing of good practice;
Establish and update a cross-sectoral overview and map of the disaster risks faced by the Union taking into account the likely impacts of climate change;
Encourage exchange of good practices on preparing national civil protection systems to cope with the impacts of climate change.

10. Disaster preparedness
the development of civil protection response modules;
Training, exercises, prevention & preparedness projects, exchange of experts and lessons learned;
Facilitate Host Nation Support (how to receive assistance).

11. Modules (preparedness)
Key principles of modules:
Pre-defined specific assistance capabilities to be dispatched at very short notice (within 12 hours of a request for assistance);
Self-sufficiency and autonomy;
Interoperability

12. New actions in disaster preparedness
Establishment of Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) with 24/7 operational capacity
Establish a European Emergency Response Capacity consisting of a voluntary pool
Co-finance buffer capacities to address temporary shortcomings
Seed-funding for new response capacities in very specific situations, where a potentially significant gap has been identified

13. European Emergency Response Capacity/Volontary Pool
The voluntary pool is a system whereby Member States can pre-commit response capacities for EUCPM missions
The quality of the assistance is ensured through the establishment of quality criteria and a certification process
In return for this commitment, Member States benefit from financial support for developing and transporting these capacities

14. The EU can co-finance up to 40% of the standby costs of
framework contracts
framework partnership agreements
similar arrangements
to have additional response capacities available in order to address temporary shortcomings in extraordinary disasters.
Buffer capacities

15. New international elements
Possibility for potential candidate countries to join the CP Mechanism
Specific prevention and preparedness activities expanded to the EU Neighbourhood
Requests from or through international organisations
Support experts missions deployed to provide advice on prevention

16. ERCC Main Operations Room

17. What can the ERCC offer? Continuous monitoring and coordination
24/7 capacity with instant reactivity inside and outside EU
Experts and relief teams worldwide, humanitarian budget. Coordination with ECHO offices/Delegations.
Operations rooms and liaison offices
Management of multiple emergencies simultaneously
Real-time information sharing (e.g. Crisis Flash and Crisis Report) and coordination with partners (e.g. Commission and EEAS)
Tools and resources
Early warning, scientific analysis, mapping capacities, transport and logistics, videoconferencing facilities, network of Civil Protection authorities and ECHO field presence
Public space
Meeting space (outreach to partners, stakeholders, scientific community)

18. ERCC: Three Main Functions
Coordination of disaster response within the framework of the new Union civil protection legislation
Coordination platform for humanitarian aid and civil protection operations
Enhanced coordination hub for the whole Commission and broader EU

19. Monitoring Tools GDACS: Global Disaster Alert And Coordination System
EFAS - European Flood Awareness System: Floods forecasting and Flood alerts
EFFIS – European Forest Fire Information System: Fires forecasting
Weather monitoring

20. Information Website: www.europa.eu/echo ECHO Crisis Reports
CECIS: Common Emergency Communication and Information System
ECHO/ERCC Portal
ECHO Daily Flash
ECHO Daily Map
EP receive: ECHO Daily Flash and ECHO Daily Map
EP do NOT receive: Crisis Reports and Crisis Flashes

21. Post-event imagery showing the flood delineation in the area of Obrenovac, near Lazarevac.

22. Activation of the Mechanism
Disaster stricken country/IO
Request for assistance
Acceptance / rejection of assistance offered
Information update
ERCC
Offer of assistance
Deployment of EU CP Teams
Coordination of Transport
Activation of the Mechanism 22

23. Civil Protection Forum: 6-7 May 2015
The largest recurring public event on European civil protection cooperation (over 800 participants in 2013).
Conference & an indoor and outdoor exhibition, under the central theme of "Partnership and Innovation".
Registration: February-March & Exhibition Call for applications: end February
Website: