EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 23.2.2009 
SEC(2009) 203 
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Accompanying document to the 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE CO MMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND 
SOCIALCOMMITTEE AND THE CO MMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 
A Community approach on the prevention of natural and man-made disasters  
  
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  
 
{COM(2009) 82} 
{SEC(2009) 202}
 
EN 2   EN 1. INTRODUCTION  
The impact assessment has been prepared  by the Commission services to support the 
Communication on “A community appro ach on the prevention of natural and 
manmade disasters”.  
The objective of such a Communication is to identify measures which could be 
included in a Community strategy for th e prevention of natural and man-made 
disasters, building upon and linking existing meas ures. It is also intended to trigger a 
debate with stakeholders and initiate polic y discussions between the EU institutions.  
At this early stage of policy development,  the objectives of the impact assessment 
are: 
– to provide the necessary information to support the policy decision as to 
whether or not to develop an EU  strategy on disaster prevention; 
– to assess and explore options for pot ential inclusion in the Communication  
2. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES  
The impact assessment is built on the resu lts of two external independent studies 
which identified prevention gaps in existi ng instruments and anal ysed the approach 
taken by some Member States to prevention.  
The main stakeholders were invited to pa rticipate in a general consultation meeting 
and to comment on an issues paper. Furthe rmore, three specific stakeholder meetings 
gathering experts from Member State admini strations and private organisations were 
held to specifically address economic and e nvironmental aspects, in particular forest 
fires, and land use/risk mapping issues.  
There was a wide consensus amongst stakeholders on the need to strengthen disaster 
prevention efforts both at Member State and EU level and on the fact that EU action 
can provide added-value in this process. A ccording to stakeholders, while bearing in 
mind that disaster prevention is prim arily a national res ponsibility, similar 
vulnerabilities across Member States ca ll for their increased coordination and 
cooperation at EU level.  
3. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND POLICY OBJECTIVE  
The tragic events of the past years have led to the strengthening of European civil 
protection legislation on preparedness and response, with a reinforced Community 
Civil Protection Mechanism1 and the adoption of the Civil Protection Financial 
Instrument2. There is now a political will fr om all concerned stakeholders to 
strengthen the links between preventi on, preparedness, response and recovery: 
investment in preparedness and response has to be coupled with a similar strengthening of the prevention sphere.  
Member States already have, to varying de grees, policies aimed at the prevention of 
disasters. While prevention remains a na tional responsibility, action at Community 
level is based upon the following drivers: 
                                                
 
1 Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom establishi ng a Community civil prot ection Mechanism (recast) 
2 Council Decision establishing a civil protection financial instrument (2007/162/EC, Euratom) 
 
EN 3   EN – An increased vulnerability of Eu ropean citizens to disasters; 
– Disasters cause cross-border impacts and have a transnational dimension; 
– Disasters inflict considerable damages and costs and have an impact on the 
economic growth and competitiveness of the EU  
The goal of the initiative is therefore to improve the protect ion of people, the 
environment and property, including cultu ral heritage, by bri dging existing gaps, 
better linking the various sectors and st akeholders and establishing a policy 
framework for initiating thematic initiatives , horizontal and cross cutting tools, and 
guidelines for disaster prevention.  
This goal is expected to be attained vi a the pursuit of three specific objectives:  
– Creating the conditions for the devel opment of knowledge based disaster 
prevention policies at all levels of government; 
– Linking the actors and polic ies throughout the disaster management cycle; 
– Making existing instruments perfor m better for disaster prevention 
4. IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE POLICY OPTIONS  
The Commission has identified and a ssessed policy options as follows: 
– a baseline option , where no further action is taken regarding the prevention of 
disasters. This option woul d not allow the sufficient re duction of the impact of 
disasters and would not ensure a fair le vel of protection to all EU citizens.  
– specific options , on ways forward for each of the areas identified. They 
include the following, which are not mutu ally exclusive and may be combined:  
– “Soft” options  such as the provision of guidance aiming at building a 
knowledge base on disasters, lin king actors and policies and/or 
improving the use of EU funds. They could be grouped under the 
activities of a multisec toral steering group applying an open method of 
coordination. 
– Accompanying measures : the integration of disaster prevention in the 
review process of relevant legisla tion is likely to bring benefits by 
logically complementing the preven tion-preparedness-response-recovery 
disaster cycle. The creation of a “disasters observatory”, bringing together existing data and information on disasters in the EU, is likely to 
deliver quick and comprehensive results with limited costs.  
– Funding measures , that may require amending existing funds, could 
improve the consistency and effectiv eness of EU funding regarding the 
prevention of disasters. The creation of  a specific financial instrument for 
disaster prevention is expected to have the least advantages.  
– Legislative measures  may include integrated in struments addressing risk 
mapping and disaster prev ention in general, or vertical instruments 
addressing specific disasters, such as forest fires. They would be the most effective in reducing the negative impacts of disasters but may imply 
significant efforts at EU and national levels.  
 
EN 4   EN 5. CONCLUSION  
A Community strategy on disaster preventi on would reduce the disparities within the 
EU regarding the protection of people,  the economy and environment from the 
effects of disasters, increase the general level of awareness amongst decision-makers 
and the public, promote best practice, and th ereby increase the resilience of the EU 
and its economy to the increasing threat  of natural and manmade disasters. 
In the short term, specific actions contri buting to the development of knowledge, a 
better linking of actors and policies and an  improvement in the effectiveness of 
existing policy instruments with regard to disaster prevention could provide a 
flexible option for Community action that could adjust to the different needs and 
resources of Member States, simultaneous ly ensuring EU-wide coordination and 
consistency. It would have th e potential for delivering results at relatively low costs, 
would enhance the understanding of disaster  prevention issues at all levels and 
provide the basis for future reflections on how to further develop this policy area.  
In the long term, the approach might be deve loped further, leadi ng to a consolidated 
Community strategy for the prevention of  natural and man-made disasters.