(21)

Article 23 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 23 Eligible actions linked to equipment and operations 1. The following actions shall be eligible for financial assistance in order to allow access to equipment and transport and logistical resources under the Union Mechanism: (a) 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; (b) 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; (c) assisting Member States to identify equipment that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market; (d) 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: (i) a request for assistance has been made under the Union Mechanism in accordance with Articles 15 and 16; (ii) the additional transport and logistical resources are necessary for ensuring the effectiveness of disaster response under the Union Mechanism; (iii) the assistance corresponds to the needs identified by the ERCC and is delivered in accordance with the recommendations given by the ERCC on the technical specifications, quality, timing and modalities for delivery; (iv) the assistance has been accepted by a requesting country, directly or through the United Nations or its agencies, or a relevant international organisation, under the Union Mechanism; and (v) the assistance complements, for disasters in third countries, any overall Union humanitarian response. 1a. The amount of Union financial assistance for the transport of capacities not pre-committed to the European Civil Protection Pool and deployed in the event of a disaster or imminent disaster inside or outside the Union and for any other transport support needed to respond to a disaster shall not exceed 75 % of the total eligible cost. 2. The amount of Union financial assistance for capacities pre-committed to the European Civil Protection Pool shall not exceed 75 % of the costs of operating the capacities, including transport, in the event of a disaster or imminent disaster inside or outside the Union. 4. The Union financial assistance for transport and logistical resources may cover a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible costs specified in points (a) to (d), where this is necessary to make the pooling of Member States’ assistance operationally effective and where the costs relate to one of the following: (a) short-term rental of warehousing capacity to temporarily store the assistance from Member States with a view to facilitating their coordinated transport; (b) transport from the Member State offering the assistance to the Member State facilitating its coordinated transport; (c) repackaging of Member States’ assistance to make maximum use of available transport capacities or to meet specific operational requirements; or (d) local transport, transit and warehousing of pooled assistance with a view to ensuring a coordinated delivery at the final destination in the requesting country. 4a. When rescEU capacities are used for national purposes in accordance with Article 12(5), all costs, including maintenance and repair costs, shall be covered by the Member State using the capacities. 4b. In the event of deployment of rescEU capacities under the Union Mechanism, Union financial assistance shall cover 75 % of the operational costs. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, Union financial assistance shall cover 100 % of the operational costs of rescEU capacities necessary for low probability disasters with a high impact, when those capacities are deployed under the Union Mechanism. 4c. For deployments outside the Union, as referred to in Article 12(10), Union financial assistance shall cover 100 % of the operational costs. 4d. When the Union financial assistance referred to in this Article does not cover 100 % of costs, the remaining amount of the costs shall be borne by the requester of the assistance, unless otherwise agreed with the Member State offering assistance or the Member State hosting the rescEU capacities. 4e. For the deployment of rescEU capacities, Union financial assistance may cover 100 % of any direct costs necessary for the transport of cargo, logistical means and services, within the Union, and to the Union from third countries. 5. In the case of pooling of transport operations involving several Member States, a Member State may take the lead in requesting Union financial support for the entire operation. 6. When a Member State requests the Commission to contract transport services, the Commission shall request partial reimbursement of the costs according to the funding rates set out in paragraphs 1a, 2 and 4. 6a. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1a and 2, Union financial support for the transport of assistance needed in environmental disasters in which the “polluter pays principle” applies may cover a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible costs. The following conditions shall apply: (a) 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; (b) 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; (c) upon receiving compensation from the polluter, the affected or assisting Member State, as appropriate, shall immediately reimburse the Union. In the event of an environmental disaster as referred to in the first subparagraph which does not affect a Member State, the actions referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) shall be carried out by the assisting Member State. 7. The following costs shall be eligible for Union financial assistance for transport and logistical resources under this Article: all costs relating to the movement of transport and logistical resources, including the costs of all services, fees, logistical and handling costs, fuel and possible accommodation costs as well as other indirect costs such as taxes, duties in general and transit costs. 8. Transport costs may consist of unit costs, lump sums or flat rates, determined per category of cost.’;