(7)

Article 12 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 12 rescEU 1. rescEU shall be established to provide assistance in overwhelming situations where overall existing capacities at national level and those pre-committed by Member States to the European Civil Protection Pool are not, in the circumstances, able to ensure an effective response to the various kinds of disasters referred to in Article 1(2). In order to guarantee an effective response to disasters, the Commission and the Member States shall, where appropriate, ensure an adequate geographical distribution of rescEU capacities. 2. The Commission shall define, by means of implementing acts adopted under point (g) of Article 32(1), the capacities rescEU shall consist of, taking into account identified and emerging risks, overall capacities and gaps at Union level, in particular in the areas of aerial forest fire fighting, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, and emergency medical response. Those implementing acts shall ensure consistency with other applicable Union law. The first such implementing act shall be adopted by 22 June 2019. 3. rescEU capacities shall be acquired, rented or leased by Member States. For that purpose, direct grants may be awarded by the Commission to Member States without a call for proposals. Where the Commission procures rescEU capacities on behalf of Member States, the joint procurement procedure shall apply. Union financial assistance shall be awarded in accordance with the Union's financial rules. rescEU capacities shall be hosted by the Member States that acquire, rent or lease those capacities. In the case of joint procurement, rescEU capacities shall be hosted by the Member States on behalf of which they are procured. 4. The Commission shall define quality requirements for the response capacities forming part of rescEU, in consultation with the Member States. The quality requirements shall be based on established international standards, where such standards already exist. 5. A Member State that owns, rents or leases rescEU capacities shall ensure the registration of those capacities in CECIS, and the availability and deployability of those capacities for Union Mechanism operations. rescEU capacities may only be used for national purposes, as referred to in Article 23(4a), when not being used or needed for response operations under the Union Mechanism. rescEU capacities shall be used in accordance with implementing acts adopted under point (g) of Article 32(1) and with operational contracts between the Commission and the Member State owning, renting or leasing such capacities, which further specify the terms and conditions of deployment of rescEU capacities, including participating personnel. 6. rescEU capacities shall be available for response operations under the Union Mechanism following a request for assistance through the ERCC in accordance with Article 15 or Article 16(1) to (9) and (11), (12) and (13). The decision on their deployment and demobilisation, and any decision in the event of conflicting requests, shall be taken by the Commission in close coordination with the requesting Member State and the Member State owning, renting or leasing the capacity, in accordance with operational contracts as defined in the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article. The Member State on the territory of which rescEU capacities are deployed shall be responsible for directing response operations. In the event of deployments outside the Union, Member States hosting rescEU capacities shall be responsible for ensuring that rescEU capacities are fully integrated into the overall response. 7. In the event of deployment, the Commission through the ERCC shall agree with the requesting Member State on the operational deployment of rescEU capacities. The requesting Member State shall facilitate operational coordination of its own capacities and rescEU activities during operations. 8. The coordination of the different response capacities shall be facilitated, where appropriate, by the Commission through the ERCC in accordance with Articles 15 and 16. 9. Member States shall be informed of the operational status of rescEU capacities through CECIS. 10. If a disaster outside the Union could significantly affect one or more Member States or their citizens, rescEU capacities may be deployed in accordance with paragraphs 6 to 9 of this Article. When rescEU capacities are deployed in third countries, in specific cases, Member States may refuse to deploy their own personnel, in accordance with the implementing act adopted under point (g) of Article 32(1), and as further defined in the operational contracts referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article.’;