prevention and preparedness actions inside the Union and, as far as Articles 5(2) and 13(3) and 28 are concerned, also outside the Union; and

actions to assist with the response to immediate adverse consequences of a disaster inside or outside the Union, including in the countries referred to in Article 28(1), following a request for assistance through the Union Mechanism.

to achieve a high level of protection against disasters by preventing or reducing their potential effects, by fostering a culture of prevention and by improving cooperation between the civil protection and other relevant services;

to enhance preparedness at Member State and Union level to respond to disasters;

to facilitate rapid and efficient response in the event of disasters or imminent disasters, including by taking measures to mitigate the immediate consequences of disasters and encouraging Member States to work towards removing bureaucratic obstacles;

to increase public awareness and preparedness for disasters;

to increase the availability and use of scientific knowledge on disasters; and

to step up cooperation and coordination activities at cross-border level and between Member States prone to the same types of disasters.

progress in implementing the disaster prevention framework: measured by the number of Member States that have made available to the Commission the information referred to in point (d) of Article 6(1);

progress in increasing the level of readiness for disasters: measured by the quantity of response capacities included in the European Civil Protection Pool in relation to the capacity goals referred to in Article 11, the number of modules registered in the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) and the number of rescEU capacities established to provide assistance in overwhelming situations;

progress in improving the response to disasters: measured by the speed of interventions under the Union Mechanism and the extent to which the assistance contributes to the needs on the ground; and

progress in increasing public awareness and preparedness for disasters: measured by the level of awareness of Union citizens of the risks in their region.

take action to improve the knowledge base on disaster risks, and to better facilitate and promote cooperation and the sharing of knowledge, the results of scientific research and innovation, best practices and information, including among Member States that share common risks;

support and promote Member States' risk assessment and mapping activity through the sharing of good practices, and facilitate access to specific knowledge and expertise on issues of common interest;

establish and regularly update a cross-sectoral overview and map of natural and man-made disaster risks, including risks of disasters which cause or are capable of causing multi-country transboundary effects, the Union may face, by taking a coherent approach across different policy areas that may address or affect disaster prevention and taking due account of the likely impacts of climate change;

encourage an exchange of good practices on preparing national civil protection systems to cope with the impact of climate change;

promote and support the development and implementation of Member States' risk management activity through the sharing of good practices, and facilitate access to specific knowledge and expertise on issues of common interest;

compile and disseminate the information made available by Member States; organise an exchange of experiences about the assessment of risk management capability; and facilitate the sharing of good practices in prevention and preparedness planning, including through voluntary peer reviews;

report periodically, in accordance with the deadlines set out in point (d) of Article 6(1), to the European Parliament and to the Council on the progress made in the implementation of Article 6;

promote the use of various Union funds which may support sustainable disaster prevention and encourage the Member States and regions to exploit those funding opportunities;

highlight the importance of risk prevention, support the Member States in awareness-raising, public information and education, and support the Member States' efforts in the provision of public information on alert systems, by providing guidance on such systems, including on a cross-border level;

promote prevention measures in the Member States and third countries, referred to in Article 28, through the sharing of good practices, and facilitate access to specific knowledge and expertise on issues of common interest; and

in close consultation with Member States, take additional necessary supporting and complementary prevention action in order to achieve the objective specified in point (a) of Article 3(1).

further develop risk assessments at national or appropriate sub-national level;

further develop the assessment of risk management capability at national or appropriate sub-national level;

further develop and refine disaster risk management planning at national or the appropriate subnational level, including as regards cross-border collaboration, taking into account the Union disaster resilience goals referred to in paragraph 5, when established, and the risks related to disasters which cause or are capable of causing multi-country transboundary effects;

make available to the Commission a summary of the relevant elements of the assessments referred to in points (a) and (b), focusing on key risks. For key risks having cross-border impacts and risks related to disasters which cause or are capable of causing multi-country transboundary effects, as well as, where appropriate, for low probability risks with a high impact, Member States shall describe priority prevention and preparedness measures. The summary shall be provided to the Commission by 31 December 2020 and every three years thereafter, as well as whenever there are important changes;

participate, on a voluntary basis, in peer reviews on the assessment of risk management capability;

in line with international commitments, improve the collection of disaster loss data at national or the appropriate sub-national level to ensure evidence-based scenario building as referred to in Article 10(1) and the identification of gaps in disaster response capacities.

request that Member State to provide additional information on specific prevention and preparedness measures related to the risk corresponding to that type of disaster; and

where appropriate, based on the information provided:

manage the ERCC;

manage CECIS to enable communication and sharing of information between the ERCC and the Member States’ contact points;

work with Member States:

establish and manage the capability to mobilise and dispatch expert teams, responsible for:

establish and maintain the capability to provide logistical support to the expert teams referred to in point (d);

develop and maintain a network of trained experts of the Member States, who can be available at short notice to assist the ERCC in the monitoring of information and facilitating coordination;

facilitate the coordination of the Member States’ pre-positioning of disaster response capacities inside the Union;

support efforts to improve the interoperability of modules and other response capacities, taking into account best practices at the level of the Member States and at international level;

take, within its sphere of competence, the necessary actions to facilitate host nation support, including developing and updating, together with Member States, guidelines on host nation support, on the basis of operational experience;

support the creation of voluntary peer review assessment programmes for the Member States’ preparedness strategies, based on pre-defined criteria, which will enable recommendations to be formulated to strengthen the level of preparedness of the Union;

in close consultation with the Member States, take additional necessary supporting and complementary preparedness action to achieve the objective specified in point (b) of Article 3(1); and

support Member States, upon their request, in respect of disasters happening within their territories by providing the possibility of using European scientific partnerships for targeted scientific analysis. The resulting analyses may be shared via CECIS, with the agreement of the affected Member States.

be able to perform pre-defined tasks in the areas of response in accordance with established international guidelines and therefore be able to:

be interoperable with other modules;

undertake training and exercises in order to meet the interoperability requirement;

be placed under the authority of a person who is responsible for the operation of modules; and

be able to cooperate with other Union bodies and/or international institutions, in particular the United Nations, as appropriate.

the risk assessments referred to in point (a) of Article 6(1);

the overview of risks referred to in point (c) of Article 5(1);

Member States’ assessment of risk management capability referred to in point (b) of Article 6(1);

available disaster loss data referred to in point (f) of Article 6(1);

the voluntary exchange of existing information on disaster risk management planning at national or the appropriate sub-national level;

asset mapping; and

the development of plans for the deployment of response capacities.

determine the necessary type and quantity of material means and any necessary enabling support services, already defined as rescEU capacities; and/or

define additional material means and any necessary enabling support services as rescEU capacities and determine the necessary type and quantity of those capacities.

forward the request to the contact points of other Member States;

collect and analyse validated information on the situation, in conjunction with the affected Member State, with the goal of generating common awareness of the situation and the response to the situation, and disseminate that information directly to the Member States;

make recommendations, in consultation with the requesting Member State, for the provision of assistance through the Union Mechanism, based on the needs on the ground and any relevant pre-developed plans, as referred to in Article 10(1), invite Member States to deploy specific capacities and facilitate the coordination of the required assistance; and

take additional action to facilitate the coordination of the response.

maintaining a dialogue with the Member States’ contact points in order to ensure an effective and coherent Union disaster response contribution through the Union Mechanism to the overall relief effort, in particular by:

immediately making recommendations, when possible in cooperation with the affected country, based on the needs on the ground and any relevant pre-developed plans, inviting Member States to deploy specific capacities and facilitating the coordination of the requested assistance;

liaising with the affected country on technical details, such as the precise needs for assistance, the acceptance of offers and the practical arrangements for the local reception and distribution of assistance;

liaising with or supporting OCHA, and cooperating with other relevant actors that contribute to the overall relief effort, in order to maximise synergies, seek complementarities and avoid duplication and gaps; and

liaising with all relevant actors, in particular in the closing phase of the assistance intervention under the Union Mechanism, to facilitate a smooth handover.

upon request for prevention expertise in accordance with Article 5(2);

upon request for preparedness expertise in accordance with Article 8(2);

in the event of a disaster within the Union as referred to in Article 15(5);

in the event of a disaster outside the Union as referred to in Article 16(3).

Member States shall nominate experts, under their responsibility, who can be deployed as members of expert teams;

the Commission shall select the experts and the leader for those teams on the basis of their qualifications and experience, including the level of the Union Mechanism training undertaken, previous experience of missions under the Union Mechanism and other international relief work; the selection shall also be based on other criteria, including language skills, to ensure that the team as a whole has the skills needed in the specific situation;

the Commission shall appoint experts and team leaders for the mission in agreement with their nominating Member State.

providing and sharing information on equipment and on transport and logistical resources that can be made available by Member States, with a view to facilitating the pooling of such equipment or transport and logistical resources;

developing cartographical material for the swift deployment and mobilisation of resources, bearing in mind especially the particularities of cross-border regions for the purpose of multi-country transboundary risks;

assisting Member States to identify transport and logistical resources that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market, and facilitating their access to such resources; or

assisting Member States to identify equipment that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market.

co-financing of projects, studies, workshops, surveys and similar actions and activities referred to in Article 5;

co-financing peer reviews, referred to in point (d) of Article 6 and point (j) of Article 8;

maintaining the functions provided by the ERCC, in accordance with point (a) of Article 8;

preparing for the mobilisation and dispatch of the expert teams referred to in point (d) of Article 8 and Article 17 and developing and maintaining a surge capacity through a network of trained experts of Member States, referred to in point (f) of Article 8;

establishing and maintaining the CECIS and tools to enable communication and sharing of information between the ERCC and the contact points of the Member States and of other participants in the context of the Union Mechanism;

contributing to the development of transnational detection, early warning and alert systems of European interest, in order to enable a rapid response as well as to promote the inter-linkage between national early warning and alert systems and their linkage to the ERCC and the CECIS. Those systems shall take into account and build upon existing and future information, monitoring or detection sources and systems;

developing disaster risk management planning, as referred to in Article 10;

supporting the preparedness activities described in Article 13;

developing the ►M2  European Civil Protection Pool ◄ , as referred to in Article 11, in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

establishing, managing and maintaining rescEU capacities in accordance with Article 12;

ensuring the availability of logistical support for the expert teams referred to in Article 17(1);

facilitating the coordination of Member States' pre-positioning of disaster response capacities inside the Union in accordance with point (g) of Article 8; and

supporting the provision of advice on prevention and preparedness measures through the deployment of an expert team on site, upon the request of a Member State, third country, the United Nations or its agencies, as referred to in Article 5(2) and Article 13(3).

costs at Union level of setting up and managing the ►M2  European Civil Protection Pool ◄ and the associated processes set out in Article 11;

costs of obligatory training courses, exercises and workshops necessary for the certification of Member States' response capacities for the purposes of the ►M2  European Civil Protection Pool ◄ ("certification costs"). The certification costs may consist of unit costs or lump sums determined per type of capacity, covering up to 100 % of the eligible costs; and

costs necessary to upgrade or repair response capacities to a state of readiness and availability that makes them deployable as part of the European Civil Protection Pool, in accordance with the quality requirements of the European Civil Protection Pool and, where relevant, recommendations formulated in the certification process ("adaptation costs"). Those costs may include costs related to operability, interoperability of modules and other response capacities, autonomy, self-sufficiency, transportability, packaging, and other necessary costs, provided that they specifically relate to the capacities' participation in the European Civil Protection Pool.

Adaptation costs may cover:

Response capacities benefitting from funding under points (i) and (ii) shall be made available as part of the European Civil Protection Pool for a minimum period that is linked to the received funding and ranges between 3 and 10 years starting from their effective availability as part of the European Civil Protection Pool, except where their economic lifespan is shorter.

Adaptation costs may consist of unit costs or lump sums determined per type of capacity.

providing and sharing information on equipment and on transport and logistical resources that Member States decide to make available, with a view to facilitating the pooling of such equipment or transport and logistical resources;

assisting Member States to identify transport and logistical resources that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market, and facilitating their access to such resources;

assisting Member States to identify equipment that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market;

financing transport and logistical resources necessary for ensuring a rapid response to disasters. Such actions shall be eligible for financial support only if the following criteria are met:

short-term rental of warehousing capacity to temporarily store the assistance from Member States with a view to facilitating their coordinated transport;

transport from the Member State offering the assistance to the Member State facilitating its coordinated transport;

repackaging of Member States’ assistance to make maximum use of available transport capacities or to meet specific operational requirements; or

local transport, transit and warehousing of pooled assistance with a view to ensuring a coordinated delivery at the final destination in the requesting country.

the Union financial support for the transport of assistance is requested by the affected or assisting Member State based on a duly justified needs assessment;

the affected or assisting Member State, as appropriate, takes all necessary steps to request and obtain compensation from the polluter, in accordance with all applicable international, Union or national legal provisions;

upon receiving compensation from the polluter, the affected or assisting Member State, as appropriate, shall immediately reimburse the Union.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement, and other European countries when agreements and procedures so provide;

acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective Framework Agreements and Association Council Decisions, or similar agreements.

the interaction of the ERCC with Member States' contact points, as provided for in point (b) of Article 8, Article 15(3) and point (a) of Article 16(3); and the operational procedures for the response to disasters within the Union, as provided for in Article 15, as well as outside the Union, as provided for in Article 16, including identification of relevant international organisations;

the components of CECIS as well as the organisation of information sharing through CECIS, as provided for in point (b) of Article 8;

the process for deploying expert teams, as provided for in Article 17;

the identification of modules, other response capacities and experts as provided for in Article 9(1);

the operational requirements for the functioning and interoperability of modules, as provided for in Article 9(2), including their tasks, capacities, main components, self-sufficiency and deployment;

the capacity goals, the quality and interoperability requirements and the certification and registration procedure necessary for the functioning of the ►M2  European Civil Protection Pool ◄ , as provided for in Article 11, as well as the financial arrangements, as provided for in Article 21(2);

the establishment, management and maintaining of rescEU, as provided for in Article 12, including criteria for deployment decisions, operating procedures as well as the costs as referred to in Article 21(3);

the establishment and organisation of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network, as provided for in Article 13;

the categories of low probability risks with a high impact and the corresponding capacities to manage them, as referred to in Article 21(4);

the criteria and procedures for recognising long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to Union civil protection, as referred to in Article 20a; and

the organisation of support for transport and logistical resources, as provided for in Articles 18 and 23.