EU Civil Protection Mechanism


The EU Civil Protection Mechanism…

… is made up of 32 states (28 EU Member States, plus former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) which co-operate in the field of civil protection to better protect people, their environment, property and cultural heritage in the event of major natural or man-made disasters occurring both inside and outside the EU. The assistance can take the form of in-kind assistance, equipment and teams, or involve sending experts to carry out assessments. It relies on government resources and, if assistance is required in third countries, usually works in parallel with or hands over to humanitarian aid.

Cooperation during disasters that overwhelm national capacities is a strong expression of European solidarity. There is clear added-value in working together, pooling resources and maximising the collective European effort on site.

The key instrument for European civil protection is the Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) which was established in 2001.

The operational heart of CPM is the European Commission’s Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is currently being transformed into the European Emergency Response Centre (ERC). Any country inside or outside EU affected by a disaster and overwhelmed by its magnitude can make an appeal for assistance through the MIC/ERC.

Natural and man-made disasters know no borders. International co-operation in civil protection is on the increase as various countries and organisations come to each other’s aid during an emergency. The European Civil Protection Mechanism has responded to many emergencies outside the EU. The European Union has a number of agreements with third countries, regional initiatives and international organisations to facilitate the provision of civil protection assistance and to undertake joint preparedness measures.

The European civil protection covers three phases of the disaster management cycle: Prevention, Preparedness & Response.

Prevention

Investing in risk prevention and preparedness before a disaster takes place pays significant dividends compared to paying for relief, recovery and reconstruction afterwards. The European Commission supports and complements prevention efforts of Participating States in the CPM, focusing on areas where a common European approach is more effective than separate national approaches. Disaster prevention is possible by various ways such as creating an inventory of information on disasters, sharing of best practices, reinforcing early warning tools etc.

Preparedness

Preparatory measures are undertaken at EU level to allow rapid mobilisation of assistance intervention teams in case of emergency, as well to ensure effective response capability and complementarily of assets. The EU also supports cooperation projects helping to prepare communities and the general population. For this purpose it organises training programmes, exercises during simulated emergencies, exchange of expert’s programmes, cooperation projects, and modules provided on voluntary basis by Participating States depending on the type and needs of the particular emergency.

Response

The CPM interventions cover all types of major emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters, acts of terrorism and technological, radiological and environmental accidents, including accidental marine pollution. Assistance may include search and rescue teams, medical teams, shelter, water purification units and other relief items requested.

Both, humanitarian aid and civil protection aim to strengthen the disaster response capacity of the European Union taking into account the important role of disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness.

On this website you will be able to discover more about our mandate, partners, policies, aid in action, annual reports, audiovisual material from the field and other useful information.

(source: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/about/presentation_en.htm)