Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Community action programme in the field of civil protection'
Date: 1999-06-03
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU action, action programme, civil defence, proposal (EU)

13.10.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 293/53

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a
Community action programme in the field of civil protection’

(1999/C 293/10)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Community action programme in the
field of civil protection [COM(1998) 768 final] (1);

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 9 February 1999, under the first paragraph of
Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the
Regions on the matter;

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 10 March 1999 to direct Commission 4 — Spatial
Planning, Urban Issues, Energy and Environment — to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion CdR 104/99 rev. 1 adopted by Commission 4 on 16 April 1999
(rapporteur: Johan Sauwens),

adopted the following opinion at its 29th plenary session of 2 and 3 June 1999 (meeting of 3 June) by
majority vote.

Introduction

1.
The COR notes the proposal for a Council Decision
establishing a Community action programme in the field of
civil protection. This Decision will extend the current action
programme beyond 1 January 2000 in order to facilitate
the further consolidation and strengthening of Community
cooperation in the field of civil protection.

2.

•

•

•

•

The main objectives of the action programme are:

to support Member States’ efforts for the protection of
persons, the environment and property in the event of
natural and technological disasters;

to support Member States in their attempts to increase the
degree of preparedness of civil protection bodies;

to improve response techniques;

to support public information, education and awareness.

General comments

3.
The Committee agrees to a large extent with the proposal,
which has been carefully drafted and satisfies key expectations
of the general public.

4.
The proposed Community measures are clearly not a
substitute for Member States’ efforts in the field of civil
protection. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,

(1) OJ C 28, 3.2.1999, p. 29.

the purpose is to support and supplement national efforts and
above all to provide for an extensive exchange of national
experience and mutual assistance in case of need.

The basis for cooperation in the field of civil protection
5.
dates back to 1985, when the foundations were laid by a
ministerial agreement. Since then the relevant Council of
Ministers has approved six resolutions, which have led to the
establishment of EU cooperation. There have been significant
activities in this area since 1992 culminating in the first action
programme.

The new programme builds on the programme that
6.
was launched on 1 January 1998 and will
terminate on
31 December 1999. It is based on the experience gathered in
the first programme, but also on new needs stemming from
the new hazards which modern life has created for mankind
and the environment. In this connection the new programme
is focused inter alia on providing the general public with
information about self-protection and how to behave in the
event of disasters.

7.
The proposed action programme will also help to
integrate civil protection considerations into other Community
and national policies. This will apply in particular to the
prevention and combating of fires and floods.

8.
The proposed project-based approach, with a lead coun-
try being selected for each project and the aim and budget
being specified in detail, will enhance the effectiveness of the
measures.

The three-year timeframe introduced for the first action
9.
programme has been retained for the new programme, which
will run until 31 December 2004.

C 293/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

13.10.1999

The financial statement accompanying the decision

10.
clearly explains the grounds for the action programme.

11.
Bearing in mind the comments made in point 4 on the
subsidiarity principle, the Committee of the Regions wishes to
emphasize the role played by local and regional authorities
with regard to assistance provision and civil protection. These
authorities have the best local knowledge and are in the best
position to judge the assistance required. The EU action
programme must support
improvements to the work of
regional and local authorities and the programme must never
result in national or EU authorities taking the place of local or
regional authorities. However, the Committee of the Regions
would underline the fact that the implementation of this
action programme will have financial consequences for local
authorities and that for this reason the latter must also be able
to benefit from the funding provided.

associations of elected politicians, as representatives of the
Member States, have seats on the consultative committee
referred to in Article 4 of the proposal for a Council decision
and responsible for helping the Commission to implement the
action programme.

13.
The Committee of the Regions would like to refer to
the specific situation in border areas. It is often the case that
there is an extensive civil protection network in one particular
country but that this cannot be deployed in a neighbouring
country because of red-tape. The action programme must be
extended to include a section which focuses on facilitating and
developing cross-border cooperation in the field of civil
protection.

Conclusion

12.
Given the major role placed by local and regional
authorities with regard to assistance provision and civil
protection, the Committee of the Regions asks that the major

14.
The Committee of the Regions endorses the proposed
new action programme in the field of civil protection provided
that its comments in points 11, 12 and 13 are taken into
account.

Brussels, 3 June 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER