Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism Text with EEA relevance - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 347/924

In view of the significant increase in the numbers and severity of natural and man-made disasters in recent years and in a situation where future disasters will be more extreme and more complex with far-reaching and longer-term consequences as a result, in particular, of climate change and the potential interaction between several natural and technological hazards, an integrated approach to disaster management is increasingly important. The European Union should promote solidarity and should support, complement, and facilitate the coordination of Member States' actions in the field of civil protection with a view to improving the effectiveness of systems for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters.

A Community Civil Protection Mechanism was established by Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom (2), recast by Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom (3). The financing of that Mechanism has been ensured by Council Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom (4) which established a Civil Protection Financial Instrument ("the Financial Instrument"). It provides for Union financial assistance to be given, both as a contribution to improving the effectiveness of the response to major emergencies and to enhancing preventive and preparedness measures for all kinds of emergencies, including the continuation of measures that were previously taken under Council Decision 1999/847/EC (5). The Financial Instrument expires on 31 December 2013.

The protection to be ensured under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism ("the Union Mechanism") should cover primarily people, but also the environment and property, including cultural heritage, against all kinds of natural and man-made disasters, including environmental disasters, marine pollution and acute health emergencies, occurring inside or outside the Union. Civil protection and other emergency assistance under the Union Mechanism may be required in all of those disasters to complement the response capabilities of the affected country. As regards disasters caused by acts of terrorism, nuclear or radiological accidents, the Union Mechanism should cover only the preparedness and response actions within the field of civil protection.

The Union Mechanism should also contribute to the implementation of Article 222 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), by making available its resources and capabilities as necessary.

The Union Mechanism constitutes a visible expression of European solidarity by ensuring a practical and timely contribution to prevention of and preparedness for disasters and the response to disasters and imminent disasters without prejudice to the relevant guiding principles and arrangements in the field of civil protection. This Decision should therefore not affect the reciprocal rights and obligations of the Member States under bilateral or multilateral treaties, which relate to the matters covered by this Decision, nor Member States' responsibility to protect people, the environment, and property on their territory.

The Union Mechanism should take due account of relevant Union law and international commitments, and exploit synergies with relevant Union initiatives, such as the European Earth Observation Programme (Copernicus), the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) and the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE).

The role of regional and local authorities in disaster management is of great importance. Regional and local authorities thus need to be appropriately involved in the activities carried out under this Decision in accordance with Member States' national structures.

Prevention is of key importance for protection against disasters and requires further action as called for in the Council Conclusions of 30 November 2009 and in the European Parliament Resolution of 21 September 2010 on the Commission's Communication entitled a "Community approach on the prevention of natural and man-made disasters". The Union Mechanism should include a general policy framework for Union actions on disaster risk prevention, aimed at achieving a higher level of protection and resilience against disasters by preventing or reducing their effects and by fostering a culture of prevention, including due consideration of the likely impacts of climate change and the need for appropriate adaptation action. From this perspective, risk assessments, risk management planning, the assessment of the risk management capability conducted by each Member State at national or appropriate sub-national level involving, as appropriate, other relevant services, an overview of risks prepared at Union level, and peer reviews are essential to ensure an integrated approach to disaster management, linking risk prevention, preparedness and response actions. Therefore, the Union Mechanism should include a general framework for the sharing of information on risks and risk management capabilities without prejudice to Article 346 TFEU, which guarantees that no Member State should be obliged to supply information, the disclosure of which it considers contrary to the essential interests of its security.

By contributing to the further development and better integration of transnational detection and early warning and alert systems of European interest, the Union should assist Member States in minimising the lead time to respond to disasters and to alert Union citizens. Such systems should take into account and build upon existing and future information sources and systems, while encouraging relevant new technologies.

The Union Mechanism should include a general policy framework aimed at continuously improving the level of preparedness of civil protection systems, services, their personnel and population within the Union. This should include a programme of exercises, a programme of lessons learnt as well as training programmes and a training network, at Union and Member State level, on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters as called for in the Council Conclusions of 27 November 2008 on European disaster management training arrangements.

The development of civil protection assistance intervention modules, consisting of the resources of one or more Member States which aim to be fully interoperable, should be pursued in order to strengthen cooperation in the field of civil protection and further develop the Member States' coordinated joint rapid response. Modules should be organised at the level of the Member States and be subject to their command and control.

The Union Mechanism should facilitate the mobilisation and coordination of assistance interventions. The Union Mechanism should be based on a Union structure consisting of an Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), a European Emergency Response Capacity (EERC) in the form of a voluntary pool of pre-committed capacities from the Member States, trained experts, a Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) managed by the Commission and contact points in the Member States. It should provide a framework for collecting validated information on the situation, for dissemination to the Member States and for sharing lessons learnt from interventions.

In order to improve the planning of disaster response operations under the Union Mechanism and to enhance the availability of key capacities, it is necessary to develop an EERC in the form of a voluntary pool of pre-committed capacities from the Member States and a structured process to identify potential capacity gaps.

With respect to disaster response assistance interventions outside the Union, the Union Mechanism should facilitate and support actions undertaken by the Member States and the Union as a whole in order to promote consistency in international civil protection work. The United Nations, in cases where it is present, has an overall coordinating role for relief operations in third countries. Assistance provided under the Union Mechanism should be coordinated with the United Nations and other relevant international actors to maximise the use of available resources and avoid any unnecessary duplication of effort. Enhanced coordination of civil protection assistance through the Union Mechanism is a prerequisite to supporting the overall coordination effort and ensuring a comprehensive Union contribution to the overall relief effort. In disasters where assistance is provided under both the Union Mechanism and Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 (6), the Commission should ensure the effectiveness, coherence and complementarities of the overall Union response respecting the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (7).

The availability and accessibility of adequate means of transport needs to be improved to support the development of a rapid response capability at the Union level. The Union should support and complement the efforts of the Member States by facilitating the coordination and pooling of transport resources and contributing, where necessary, to the financing of additional means of transport, subject to certain criteria and taking into account existing systems.

Assistance interventions should be demand driven and subject to full coordination on site so as to maximise the effectiveness and ensure access to affected populations. The Commission should provide appropriate logistical support for the dispatched expert teams.

The Union Mechanism may also be used for civil protection support to consular assistance to the citizens of the Union in disasters in third countries, if requested by the consular authorities of the Member States concerned. The Member States concerned should, whenever possible, coordinate such requests among each other and with any other relevant actor to ensure the optimal use of the Union Mechanism and avoid practical difficulties on the ground. This support could be requested for instance by the "Lead State" or the Member State coordinating assistance for all Union citizens. The "Lead State" concept should be understood in accordance with the European Union guidelines on the implementation of the consular Lead State concept (8). This Decision applies without prejudice to the Union rules on consular protection for citizens of the Union abroad.

When planning response operations, it is useful to also liaise with relevant non-governmental organisations and other relevant entities to identify any additional response capacities that they may be able to make available in case of disasters via the competent authorities of the Member States.

The use of military means under civilian lead as a last resort may constitute an important contribution to disaster response. Where the use of military capacities in support of civil protection operations is considered to be appropriate, cooperation with the military should follow the modalities, procedures and criteria established by the Council or its competent bodies for making available to the Union Mechanism military capacities relevant to civil protection and should be in line with the relevant international guidelines.

When assistance under the Union Mechanism contributes to a Union humanitarian response, particularly in complex emergencies, actions receiving financial assistance under this Decision should be consistent with the humanitarian principles and the principles on the use of civil protection and military resources set out in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.

Participation of European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries that are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates should be possible. Candidate countries and potential candidates which do not participate in the Union Mechanism, as well as countries which are part of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), should also benefit from certain actions financed under this Decision.

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Decision, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with respect to the interaction of the ERCC with the Member States' contact points and the operational procedures for the response to disasters inside and outside the Union; the components of the CECIS and the organisation of information sharing through the CECIS; the process for deploying expert teams; the identification of modules, other response capacities and experts; the operational requirements for the functioning and interoperability of modules; the capacity goals, the quality and interoperability requirements and the certification and registration procedure necessary for the functioning of the EERC, as well as the financial arrangements; identifying and filling gaps in the EERC; the organisation of the training programme, exercise framework and lessons learnt programme; and the organisation of support for the transport of assistance. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).

The examination procedure should be used for the adoption of the implementing acts provided for in this Decision.

This Decision strengthens the cooperation between the Union and Member States and facilitates coordination in the field of civil protection, allowing more effective actions by reason of scale and complementarity. Where a disaster overwhelms the response capabilities of a Member State, that State may decide to appeal to the Union Mechanism to complement its own civil protection and other disaster response resources.

Since the objectives of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of scale or effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

This Decision does not affect actions falling under a future Union legislative act relating to the establishment of an instrument for stability, the public health measures adopted under Union legal acts concerning Union action programmes in the field of health, nor the consumer safety measures adopted under a future Union legislative act relating to a consumer programme for the period 2014-2020.

For reasons of coherence, actions falling under Council Decision 2007/124/EC, Euratom (10) and under a future Union legislative act relating to the establishment, as part of the Internal Security Fund, the instrument for financial support for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management or relating to the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security are not covered by this Decision. This Decision does not apply to activities covered by Regulation (EC) No 1257/96.

The provisions of this Decision are without prejudice to the adoption of legally binding acts under the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, setting out specific emergency measures in case of nuclear or radiological disasters.

This Decision covers actions in the field of prevention of, preparedness for and response to marine pollution with the exception of actions falling under Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11).

In order for the Commission to ensure the implementation of this Decision, the Commission may finance such activities relating to preparation, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation as are required for the management of the Union Mechanism and the achievement of its objectives.

The reimbursement of expenses and award of public procurement contracts and grants under this Decision should be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). Due to the specific nature of action in the field of civil protection, it is appropriate to provide that grants may be awarded to legal persons, whether governed by private or public law. It is also important that the rules of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 be complied with, in particular regarding the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness laid down therein.

The financial interests of the Union should be protected through proportionate measures throughout the expenditure cycle, including the prevention, detection and investigation of irregularities, the recovery of funds lost, unduly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, administrative and financial penalties in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

This Decision lays down a financial envelope for the entire duration of the Union Mechanism which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of Point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (13), for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure. This reference amount is partly fed from Heading 3 "Security and Citizenship" and partly from Heading 4 "Global Europe" of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020.

The financial envelope for the implementation of this Decision should be allocated according to the percentages set out in Annex I.

In order to review the breakdown of the financial envelope for the implementation of this Decision by 30 June 2017, in light of the outcome of the interim evaluation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission. The urgency procedure should apply if, at any time, an immediate revision of the budgetary resources available for response actions is needed. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.

This Decision should apply as of 1 January 2014 as it is related to the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020,

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; and

to increase public awareness and preparedness for disasters.

progress in implementing the disaster prevention framework: measured by the number of Member States that have made available to the Commission a summary of their risk assessments and an assessment of their risk management capability as referred to in Article 6;

progress in increasing the level of readiness for disasters: measured by the quantity of response capacities included in the voluntary pool in relation to the capacity goals referred to in Article 11 and the number of modules registered in the CECIS;

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.

'disaster' means any situation which has or may have a severe impact on people, the environment, or property, including cultural heritage;

'response' means any action taken upon request for assistance under the Union Mechanism in the event of an imminent disaster, or during or after a disaster, to address its immediate adverse consequences;

'preparedness' means a state of readiness and capability of human and material means, structures, communities and organisations enabling them to ensure an effective rapid response to a disaster, obtained as a result of action taken in advance;

'prevention' means any action aimed at reducing risks or mitigating adverse consequences of a disaster for people, the environment and property, including cultural heritage;

'early warning' means the timely and effective provision of information that allows action to be taken to avoid or reduce risks and the adverse impacts of a disaster, and to facilitate preparedness for an effective response;

'module' means a self-sufficient and autonomous predefined task- and needs-driven arrangement of Member States’ capabilities or a mobile operational team of the Member States, representing a combination of human and material means that can be described in terms of its capacity for intervention or by the task(s) it is able to undertake;

'risk assessment' means the overall cross-sectoral process of risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation undertaken at national or appropriate sub-national level;

'risk management capability' means the ability of a Member State or its regions to reduce, adapt to or mitigate risks (impacts and likelihood of a disaster), identified in its risk assessments to levels that are acceptable in that Member State. Risk management capability is assessed in terms of the technical, financial and administrative capacity to carry out adequate:

'host nation support' means any action undertaken in the preparedness and response phases by the country receiving or sending assistance, or by the Commission, to remove foreseeable obstacles to international assistance offered through the Union Mechanism. It includes support from Member States to facilitate the transiting of this assistance through their territory;

'response capacity' means assistance that may be provided through the Union Mechanism upon request;

'logistical support' means the essential equipment or services required for expert teams referred to in Article 17(1) to perform their tasks, inter alia communication, temporary accommodation, food or in-country transport.

take action to improve the knowledge base on disaster risks and facilitate the sharing of knowledge, 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 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; develop, together with the Member States and by 22 December 2014, guidelines on the content, methodology and structure of those assessments; 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 (c) of Article 6, 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 and support the Member States in awareness-raising, public information and education;

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).

develop risk assessments at national or appropriate sub-national level and make available to the Commission a summary of the relevant elements thereof by 22 December 2015 and every three years thereafter;

develop and refine their disaster risk management planning at national or appropriate sub-national level;

make available to the Commission the assessment of their risk management capability at national or appropriate sub-national level every three years following the finalisation of the relevant guidelines as referred to in point (f) of Article 5(1) and whenever there are important changes; and

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

manage the ERCC;

manage a Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) to enable communication and sharing of information between the ERCC and the Member States' contact points;

contribute to the development and better integration of transnational detection and early warning and alert systems of European interest in order to enable a rapid response, and 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 and detection sources and systems;

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

establish and maintain the capability to provide logistical support for those expert teams;

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 inter-operability of modules and other response capacities, taking into account the 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; and

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).

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.

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

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

set up and manage a training programme for civil protection and emergency management personnel on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters. The programme shall include joint courses and a system for exchange of experts, whereby individuals may be seconded to other Member States.

The training programme shall aim to enhance the coordination, compatibility and complementarity between capacities referred to in Articles 9 and 11, and to improve the competence of experts referred to in points (d) and (f) of Article 8;

set up and manage a training network open to training centres for civil protection and emergency management personnel as well as other relevant actors and institutions on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters.

The training network shall aim to:

develop a strategic framework setting out the objectives and the role of exercises, a long-term comprehensive plan outlining exercise priorities, as well as set up and manage a programme of exercises;

set up and manage a programme of lessons learnt from civil protection actions conducted within the framework of the Union Mechanism including aspects from the entire disaster management cycle, in order to provide a broad basis for learning processes and knowledge development. The programme shall include:

That programme shall also include, where appropriate, lessons learnt from interventions outside the Union with regard to exploiting links and synergies between assistance provided under the Union Mechanism and humanitarian response;

develop guidance on knowledge dissemination and implementation of the different tasks referred to in points (a) to (d) at Member State level; and

stimulate and encourage the introduction and use of relevant new technologies for the purpose of the Union Mechanism.

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

collect validated information on the situation, in conjunction with the affected Member State, and disseminate it 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.

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

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

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

upon request for preparedness expertise in accordance with Article 13(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, so as to ensure that the team as a whole has the available skills needed in the specific situation; and

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

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

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

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

studies, surveys, modelling and scenario building to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, best practices and information;

training, exercises, workshops, exchange of staff and experts, creation of networks, demonstration projects and technology transfer;

monitoring, assessment and evaluation actions;

public information, education and awareness raising and associated dissemination actions, so as to involve citizens in preventing and minimising the effects of disasters in the Union and to help Union citizens to protect themselves more effectively and in a sustainable manner;

establishment and running of a programme of lessons learnt from interventions and exercises in the context of the Union Mechanism, including on areas relevant to prevention and preparedness; and

communication actions and measures to raise awareness of the civil protection work of the Member States and of the Union in the areas of prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters.

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;

planning response operations under the Union Mechanism, in accordance with Article 10;

supporting the preparedness activities described in Article 13;

developing the EERC, as referred to in Article 11, in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

identifying gaps in the EERC in accordance with Article 12 and supporting Member States in addressing those gaps by co-financing new response capacities, up to a maximum of 20 % of the eligible costs, provided that:

Where appropriate, preference shall be given to consortia of Member States cooperating on a common risk;

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 EERC 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 EERC ("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;

non-recurrent costs necessary to upgrade Member States' response capacities from their purely national use to a state of readiness and availability that makes them deployable as part of the EERC, in accordance with the quality requirements of the voluntary pool and recommendations formulated in the certification process ("adaptation costs"). Those adaptation costs may include costs related to interoperability of modules and other response capacities, autonomy, self-sufficiency, transportability, packaging and similar costs, as well as the costs of forming multinational response capacities (for example workshops, trainings, development of common methodologies, standards, procedures and similar activities), provided that those costs specifically relate to the capacities' participation in the voluntary pool. They shall not cover the costs of the equipment or human resources necessary to initially set-up the response capacities or on-going maintenance or running costs. Those adaptation costs may consist of unit costs or lump sums determined per type of capacity, covering up to 100 % of the eligible costs, provided this does not exceed 30 % of the average cost of developing the capacity; and

costs of establishing and managing framework contracts, framework partnership agreements or similar arrangements to address temporary shortcomings in extraordinary disasters, taking into account a multi-hazard approach.

may cover the costs or fees necessary to design, prepare, negotiate, conclude and manage the contracts or arrangements as well as the costs of developing standard operating procedures and exercises to ensure the effective use of assets. Such funding may also cover a maximum of 40 % of the costs of ensuring rapid access to those assets;

shall not cover the costs of purchasing or developing new response capacities, nor the cost of operating these additional capacities in a disaster situation. The costs of operating those additional capacities in a disaster situation shall be borne by the Member States requesting the assistance;

shall not exceed 10 % of the financial envelope set out in Article 19(1). In the event that the 10 % ceiling is reached before the end of the programming period, and when required to ensure the appropriate functioning of the Union Mechanism, that 10 % ceiling may, by means of implementing acts, be exceeded by up to 5 percentage points. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 33(2).

dispatching expert teams referred to in Article 17(1) together with logistical support and dispatching experts referred to in points (d) and (e) of Article 8;

in the event of a disaster, supporting Member States in obtaining access to equipment and transport resources as specified in Article 23; and

pursuant to a request for assistance, taking additional necessary supporting and complementary action in order to facilitate the coordination of response in the most effective way.

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

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

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

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

the costs relate to the transport of the capacities pre-committed to the voluntary pool in accordance with Article 11; or

the assistance is necessary to address a critical need and the assistance is not, or not sufficiently, available in the voluntary pool.

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

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

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

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 arrangements;

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 EERC, as provided for in Article 11, as well as the financial arrangements, as provided for in Article 21(2);

identifying and filling gaps in the EERC, as provided for in Article 12;

the organisation of the training programme, exercise framework and lessons learnt programme, as provided for in Article 13; and

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

an interim evaluation report on the results obtained and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of this Decision by no later than 30 June 2017;

a communication on the continued implementation of this Decision by no later than 31 December 2018; and

an ex-post evaluation report by no later than 31 December 2021.

:

20 % +/- 8 percentage points