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Document 52020AR3164

Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – A reinforced Union civil protection mechanism

COR 2020/03164

OJ C 440, 18.12.2020, p. 150–159 (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

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Official Journal

18.12.2020

Official Journal of the European Union

C 440/150

Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – A reinforced Union civil protection mechanism

(2020/C 440/23)

Rapporteur:

Alberto CIRIO (IT/EPP), President of the Piedmont Region

Reference document:

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism

COM(2020) 220 final

I. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AMENDMENTS

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism

COM(2020) 220 final

Amendment 1

Recital 2

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(2)	Whilst recognising the primary responsibility of Member States for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters, the Union Mechanism promotes solidarity between Member States in accordance with Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union.

(2)

Whilst recognising the primary responsibility for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters remains with the Member States and their regional authorities , the Union Mechanism , and in particular rescEU, promotes solidarity between Member States in accordance with Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union by complementing existing capacities of Members States and regions, enabling more effective preparedness and response, where capacities at national, regional and local levels are not sufficient .

Reason

It is essential to acknowledge that the capacities are different not only between the Member States but also between their regions. The complementary action of the EU should therefore develop a differentiated approach according to the different needs at regional level.

Amendment 2

Recital 6

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(6)

To improve planning in prevention and preparedness, the Union should continue advocating for investment in prevention of disasters across sectors, and for comprehensive risk management approaches that underpin prevention and preparedness, taking into account a multi-hazard approach, an ecosystem-based approach and the likely impacts of climate change, in close cooperation with the relevant scientific communities and key economic operators. To that effect, cross-sectoral and all-hazard approaches should be put at the forefront and be based on Union wide resilience goals feeding into a baseline definition of capacities and preparedness. The Commission is to work together with Member States when defining Union wide resilience goals.

(6)

To improve planning in prevention and preparedness, the Union should continue advocating for investment in prevention of disasters across sectors, and for comprehensive risk management approaches that underpin prevention and preparedness, taking into account a multi-hazard approach, an ecosystem-based approach and the likely impacts of climate change, in close cooperation with the relevant scientific communities and key economic operators. To that effect, cross-sectoral and all-hazard approaches should be put at the forefront and be based on the differentiated needs of the EU Member States and regions in order to strengthen their capacities and to improve the overall EU resilience and preparedness. The Commission is to work together with Member States and local and regional authorities when defining Union wide resilience goals.

Reason

The efforts of the EU must be differentiated to take into account the different capacities in the Member States and in the EU regions.

Amendment 3

Recital 8

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(8)

As a 24/7 operational centre at Union level with capacity to follow and support operations in various types of emergencies, within and outside the Union, in real-time, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (‘ERCC’) should be further strengthened. This should include enhanced coordination of the ERCC with Member States’ national crisis systems and civil protection authorities, as well as with other relevant Union bodies. The work of the ERCC is supported by scientific expertise, including that provided by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

(8)

As a 24/7 operational centre at Union level with capacity to follow and support operations in various types of emergencies, within and outside the Union, in real-time, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (‘ERCC’) should be further strengthened. This should include enhanced coordination of the ERCC with Member States’ national and regional crisis systems and civil protection authorities, as well as with other relevant Union bodies. The work of the ERCC is supported by scientific expertise, including that provided by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

Reason

Member States’ governance structure and the nature of certain emergencies may also require coordination with regional crisis response systems, particularly as regards skills and training.

Amendment 4

Recital 9

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(9bis)

The Union Mechanism and rescEU should be developed in a way that enables the Union to effectively respond to a wide range of emergencies, besides health. For instance, climate change is leading to an increase of natural disasters such as fire or flooding. It is therefore essential that the Union Mechanism also includes sufficient capacities to act when natural disasters occur.

Reason

Self-explanatory.

Amendment 5

Recital 11

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(11)	rescEU capacities acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by Member States could be used for national purposes, but only when not used or needed for response operations under the Union Mechanism.

(11)	rescEU capacities acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by the Commission or Member States could be used for national purposes, but only when not used or needed for response operations under the Union Mechanism.

Reason

Availability of rescEU capacities for national use should not depend on whether they are acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by the Commission or the Member States.

Amendment 6

Article 1(2)

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(2)	Article 6 is amended as follows:

(2)	Article 6 is amended as follows:

(c)

The following paragraph 5 is added:

‘5. The Commission shall define Union disaster resilience goals to support prevention and preparedness actions. Disaster resilience goals shall ensure a common baseline for maintaining critical societal functions in the face of cascading effects of a high impact disaster and for ensuring the functioning of the internal market. The goals shall be based on forward looking scenarios, including the impacts of climate change on disaster risk, data on past events and cross-sectoral impact analysis with a particular attention to vulnerable people.

(c)

The following paragraph 5 is added:

‘5. The Commission shall define Union disaster resilience goals to support prevention and preparedness actions in consultation with the Member States and local and regional authorities . Disaster resilience goals shall ensure a common baseline for maintaining critical societal functions in the face of cascading effects of a high impact disaster and for ensuring the functioning of the internal market. The goals shall be based on forward looking scenarios, including the impacts of climate change on disaster risk, data on past events and cross-sectoral impact analysis with a particular attention to vulnerable people.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt, where necessary, delegated acts in accordance with Article 30 to define Union disaster resilience goals. ’;

The Commission shall propose a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council adopting Union disaster resilience goals .’;

Reason

It is essential to ensure that overarching goals and objectives at Union level are being developed and defined in consultation with the representatives of national and subnational levels.

In order to reflect ownership of goals, the legislation adopting them should have to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council.

Amendment 7

Article 1(3)

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(3)	Article 7 is replaced by the following:

(3)	Article 7 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 7

Emergency Response Coordination Centre

‘Article 7

Emergency Response Coordination Centre

1. An Emergency Response Coordination Centre (“ERCC”) is established. The ERCC shall ensure 24/7 operational capacity, and serve the Member States and the Commission in pursuit of the objectives of the Union Mechanism.

The ERCC shall in particular coordinate, monitor and support in real-time the response to emergencies at Union level. The ERCC shall work in close contact with national crisis systems, civil protection authorities and relevant Union bodies.

The ERCC shall in particular monitor and support in real-time the response to emergencies at Union level. The ERCC shall support national and, where relevant, regional crisis systems, civil protection authorities and relevant Union bodies.

2. The ERCC shall have access to operational , analytical, monitoring, information management and communication capacities to address a broad range of emergencies within and outside the Union.’;

2. The ERCC shall have access to logistical , analytical, monitoring, information management and communication capacities to support national systems for managing crises within and outside the Union.’;

Reason

The ERCC must facilitate and support national — and regional, where appropriate — crisis response systems, avoiding overlaps which might create confusion in terms of which body is responsible for responding to the emergency.

Amendment 8

Article 1(6)

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(6)	Article 10 is replaced by the following:

(6)	Article 10 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 10

Disaster resilience planning

‘Article 10

Disaster resilience planning

1. The Commission and the Member States shall work together to improve cross-sectoral resilience planning, both for natural and man-made disasters likely to have a trans-boundary effect, including the adverse effects of climate change. The resilience planning shall include scenario-building at Union level for disaster prevention and response based on the risk assessments referred to in point (a) of Article 6(1) and the overview of risks referred to in point (c) of Article 5(1), disaster risk management planning referred to in point (c) of Article 6(1), disaster loss data referred to in point (f) of Article 6(1), asset mapping and the development of plans for the deployment of response capacities, taking into account the Union disaster resilience goals referred to Article 6(5).

1. The Commission and the Member States , in consultation with local and regional authorities, shall work together to improve cross-sectorial resilience planning, both for natural and man-made disasters likely to have a trans-boundary effect, including the adverse effects of climate change. The resilience planning shall include scenario-building at Union level for disaster prevention and response based on the risk assessments referred to in point (a) of Article 6(1) and the overview of risks referred to in point (c) of Article 5(1), disaster risk management planning referred to in point (c) of Article 6(1), disaster loss data referred to in point (f) of Article 6(1), asset mapping and the development of plans for the deployment of response capacities, taking into account the Union disaster resilience goals referred to Article 6(5).

2. […]’;

Reason

It is essential to ensure that the work on disaster resilience planning and scenario-building also involves regional and local levels as the levels most directly affected.

Amendment 9

Article 1(8)

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

(8)	Article 12 is amended as follows:

(8)	Article 12 is amended as follows:

(a)	Paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:

(a)	Paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:

‘2. […]

3. rescEU capacities shall be acquired, rented, leased, and/or otherwise contracted by the Commission or Member States. The Commission may acquire, rent, lease or otherwise contract rescEU capacities to stock and distribute supplies or to provide services to Member States, through procurement procedures in accordance with the Union’s financial rules. Where rescEU capacities are acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by Member States, direct grants may be awarded by the Commission to Member States without a call for proposals.

3. rescEU capacities shall be acquired, rented, leased, and/or otherwise contracted by the Commission or Member States. The Commission may acquire, rent, lease or otherwise contract rescEU capacities to stock and distribute supplies or to provide services to Member States, through procurement procedures in accordance with the Union’s financial rules. Where the Commission acquires rescEU capacities, it shall retain ownership of such capacities even when they are distributed to member States, except in case of non-reusable capacities . Where rescEU capacities are acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by Member States, direct grants may be awarded by the Commission to Member States without a call for proposals.

The Commission and any Member States which so desire may engage in a joint procurement procedure conducted pursuant to Article 165 of the Financial Regulation with a view of acquiring rescEU capacities.

rescEU capacities shall be hosted by the Member States that acquire, rent, lease or otherwise contract those capacities. As a way to enhance Union resilience, rescEU capacities acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by the Commission are to be strategically pre-positioned inside the Union. In consultation with Member States, rescEU capacities acquired, rented, leased or otherwise contracted by the Commission could also be located in third countries via trusted networks managed by relevant international organisations.’;

Reason

This will ensure that the capacities are given to the most needed regions in Europe, according to the EC assessment.

Amendment 10

Article 1(14)

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

Article 20a is replaced by the following:

‘Article 20a

Visibility and awards

‘Article 20a

Visibility and awards

1. The recipients of Union funding, as well as the beneficiaries of the delivered assistance, shall acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of the Union funding (in particular when promoting the actions and their results) by providing coherent, effective and proportionate targeted information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.

Any assistance or funding provided under this Decision shall be given appropriate visibility. In particular, Member States shall ensure that public communication for operations funded under the Union Mechanism:

—	include appropriate references to the Union Mechanism;

—	include appropriate references to the Union Mechanism;

—	provide visual branding on the capacities funded or co-funded by the Union Mechanism;

—	provide visual branding on the capacities funded or co-funded by the Union Mechanism;

—	deliver actions with the Union emblem;

—	deliver actions with the Union emblem;

—	proactively communicate the Union support to national media and stakeholders as well as on their own communication channels;

—	proactively communicate the Union support to national media and stakeholders as well as on their own communication channels;

—	support the Commission’s communication actions on the operations.

—	support the Commission’s communication actions on the operations.

2. The Commission shall implement information and communication actions relating to this Decision, and its actions and results. Financial resources allocated to this Decision shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, as far as they are related to the objectives referred to in Article 3(1).

3. The Commission shall award medals in order to recognise and honour longstanding commitments and extraordinary contributions to Union Mechanism.’;

3. The Commission shall award medals in order to recognise and honour longstanding commitments and extraordinary contributions to Union Mechanism.

4. When rescEU capacities are used for national purposes as referred to in Article 12(5), Member States, regions and cities shall acknowledge the origin of those capacities and ensure the visibility of the Union funding used to acquire those capacities. ’

Reason

It is important to promote the action of the EU in time of crisis. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that the crisis periods allow the broad diffusion of fake news.

Amendment 11

Article 1(15)

Text proposed by the European Commission

CoR amendment

Article 21 is amended as follows:

(a)

In paragraph 1, point (g) is replaced by the following:

‘(g)	developing resilience planning under the Union Mechanism, as referred to in Article 10.’;

(a)

In paragraph 1, point (g) is replaced by the following:

‘(g)	developing resilience planning under the Union Mechanism, as referred to in Article 10.’;

(b)	Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

(b)	Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. The financial assistance for the action referred to in point (j) of paragraph 1 shall cover all costs necessary to ensure the availability and deployability of rescEU capacities under the Union Mechanism in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph. The categories of eligible costs necessary to ensure the availability and deployability of rescEU capacities shall be as set out in Annex Ia.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 30 to amend Annex Ia regarding the categories of eligible costs.

The financial assistance referred to in this paragraph may be implemented by multi-annual work programmes. For actions extending beyond one year, budgetary commitments may be broken down into annual instalments.’;

(c)	paragraph 4 is deleted.

Reason

The costs incurred in facing this type of risk should continue to be covered by EU financial assistance.

II. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

reiterates its call for significant strengthening of the emergency and disaster response capacities of the EU, with the involvement of national, local and regional emergency response structures and respecting the subsidiarity principle under TFEU Article 196;

calls for the full involvement of local and regional authorities in the EU decision-making process, as they are the first ones to be hit when a disaster strikes and the first level of governance to respond in case of an emergency;

welcomes the proposal to develop Union disaster resilience goals in support of prevention and preparedness actions; emphasises, however, that this needs to be done in cooperation with not only Member States but also local and regional authorities;

supports the strengthening of the immediate and long-term capacity of the EU to react to emergencies while preserving local authorities’ ultimate operational control, but emphasises that more flexibility is also needed for deployment of rescEU resources to effectively respond to not only to health crises but to other large-scale emergencies;

welcomes the EUR 1,9 billion reinforcement of rescEU under the new recovery instrument Next Generation EU, bringing the total allocation to EUR 3 billion for the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027. Therefore, swift agreement on and adoption of the EU budget is of the essence if we want the EU to be better equipped to prepare for and respond to any future large-scale emergencies;

stresses that while the Next Generation EU is a welcome temporary one-off reinforcement, a long-term commitment and reinforcement is needed to further reinforce the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and its instruments, such as rescEU and the European Medical Corps;

agrees that the Commission should be able to directly procure rescEU capacities to support Member States in a large-scale emergency situation as this would both alleviate the financial and administrative burden on Member States and enable the EU to intervene more rapidly to ensure the sufficient availability of strategic assets when the capacities of Member States are overwhelmed;

agrees that in addition to the availability of strategic assets, sufficient transport and logistical capacity, including multi-purpose aircraft services, in case of emergency is needed to be able to react quickly and deliver emergency assistance;

Key messages

refers to its commitment, as expressed in the Resolution on the 2020-2025 priorities of the European Committee of the Regions, to ‘advocate for coordinated EU action and support for national, regional and local disaster preparedness structures to respond to health threats and crisis situations in compliance with the subsidiarity principle’;

10.

highlights Article 196 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which states that ‘the Union shall encourage cooperation between Member States in order to improve the effectiveness of systems for preventing and protecting against natural or man-made disasters’;

11.

finds it regrettable that the COVID-19 outbreak has had large-scale consequences that could not have been foreseen, but believes that it can be overcome through strong cooperation and consolidated mechanisms;

12.

notes that every crisis is a test of solidarity for the EU and its Member States, as most recently demonstrated by the current COVID-19 pandemic, and as the representative of local and regional authorities, strongly believes in the need for a coordinated European response in the spirit of true solidarity;

13.

welcomes in this context that the European institutions have, within the scope of their competences, taken strong action in adopting initiatives for a targeted response to the COVID-19 crisis; reiterates, however, that beyond the first short-term crisis response, it is urgent to lay the ground for greater resilience from the European Union at all levels;

14.

stresses that as demonstrated by the current crisis, it is of the utmost importance to strengthen coordination between Member States, between all levels of government and across borders;

15.

notes that while the COVID-19 outbreak will necessarily also put the current Union Civil Protection Mechanism to the test, the targeted changes must now aim, on the basis of the experience gained here, to enhance and reinforce the Union Mechanism and enable both the EU and Member States to be better prepared and react quickly and effectively to future large-scale high-impact crises, and in so doing respect the division of powers, laid down in the TFEU, between the EU and Member States, in particular the local level;

16.

reiterates the need to set up shared alert systems in cross border areas to achieve standardised communication on prevention and shared operational procedures in emergencies; and the need to create shared databases, shared between neighbouring countries in order to identify materials, resources, equipment, specialised volunteers and resource deployment and logistics (1);

17.

understands that the main parties participating in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism are the Member States but finds that the Mechanism as a whole would benefit from a stronger focus on regional and local needs and circumstances;

18.

calls for more EU action to focus on providing technical training assistance so that the capacity of communities for self-help can be enhanced, leaving them better prepared to provide an initial response and to contain a disaster (2);

19.

reiterates the need to boost e-learning platforms along the lines of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism training programme, and to increase the availability of open online courses in the field of civil protection (3).

Subsidiarity and proportionality analysis

Civil protection is an area of shared competence between the EU and Member States, where the Union acts to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of its Member States (Article 196 TFEU). The principle of subsidiarity is clearly applicable in the field.

The current proposal is intended to introduce some targeted changes to the decision based on which the European Union supports, coordinates and supplements the action of Member States in the field of civil protection to prevent, prepare for and respond to natural and man-made disasters within and outside the Union.

As shown by the COVID-19 outbreak, in case of serious emergencies where the European Union as a whole is concerned by the scale and the scope of the emergency, a collective, coordinated and urgent response is needed to avoid a fragmented approach which would limit the effectiveness of the Union response. The pressing demands to mobilise resources at sufficient scale and deploy them across the Member States require coordinated action at Union level in cooperation with Member States.

Brussels, 14 October 2020.

The President of the European Committee of the Regions

Apostolos TZITZIKOSTAS

(1) CDR 2018/6135.

(2) CDR 2018/617.

(3) CDR 2018/6135.

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