Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 26 February 2001 on strengthening the capabilities of the European Union in the field of civil protection
Date: 2001-02-26
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: EU Member State, European Union, civil defence, cooperation policy, international cooperation

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 82/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS
OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL

of 26 February 2001

on strengthening the capabilities of the European Union in the field of civil protection

(2001/C 82/01)

THE COUNCIL AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING
WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Council Decision 98/22/EC (1) and by Council Decision
1999/847/EC (2) contribute to a better use and integration
of Member States resources and complement measures
adopted in response to previous resolutions of the Council
and the Member States (3).

1. CONVINCED that

the unending series of man-made,
technological and natural disasters affecting the European
Union and non-member countries calls for strengthening
and making more efficient the capabilities of the European
Union and the Member States
in the field of civil
protection.

the Community

should promote

2. BELIEVING that, without prejudice to Member States’
responsibilities,
an
adequate mix of preparedness and prevention, an effective
collection and circulation of information and experience, a
coordination of the means which exist at Member State
and Community level and a cooperation between Member
States, especially when disasters are on a scale beyond the
intervention capacity of individual Member States.

3. UNDERLINING the

action
that
programmes in the field of civil protection established by

the Community

fact

it

4. CONSIDERING that

is appropriate to complement

the
previous resolutions by this resolution, taking into account
recent developments,
including those in the field of
non-military crisis management in the framework of the
common foreign and security policy (CFSP).

(1) OJ L 8, 14.1.1998, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 327, 21.12.1999, p. 53.
(3) Resolutions of:

(cid:151) 25 June 1987 on the introduction of Community cooperation

on civil protection (OJ C 176, 4.7.1987, p. 1),

(cid:151) 13 February 1989 on the new developments in Community
cooperation on civil protection (OJ C 44, 23.2.1989, p. 3),
(cid:151) 23 November 1990 on Community cooperation on civil

protection (OJ C 315, 14.12.1990, p. 1),

(cid:151) 23 November 1990 on improving mutual aid between Member
States in the event of a natural or man-made disaster (OJ C 315,
14.12.1990, p. 3),

(cid:151) 8 July 1991 on improving mutual aid in the event of a natural

or technological disaster (OJ C 198, 27.7.1991, p. 1),

(cid:151) 31 October 1994 on strengthening Community cooperation on

civil protection (OJ C 313, 10.11.1994, p. 1).

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5. STRESS that

actions

should facilitate

the flexibility that has been built

into the
the
Community action programmes
adjustment of
envisaged at Community and
Member State level to evolving priorities in the field of
civil protection, inter alia, through an improved integration
of civil protection objectives in other policies and actions,
such as the protection of the environment, and should
enhance the role of civil protection assets for civilian
aspects of crisis management.

6.

INFORMATION/EDUCATION/COMMUNICATION

HIGHLIGHT in this respect:

(a)

the vade-mecum of civil protection in the European
includes a description of
Union, which,
inter alia,
relevant
civil protection,
national organisation of
legal texts and methodology of emergency planning,
while NOTING that
to be updated and
it needs
complemented in several respects;

(b) the added value of

the Community framework for

contacts between national correspondents;

(c)

increased use of

advanced information and
that
telecommunications
is necessary to make
available up-to-date information in relation to disasters;

systems

of

importance
civil-protection

such
(d) the
as
and
information, education and awareness-raising initiatives
aimed at the public and in particular at young people
to increase the level of self-protection of citizens;

developing
information

initiatives
campaigns

(e)

the benefit of exchanging persons responsible for civil
protection as part of
in
particular in the course of simulation exercises, and
those who
facilitating the pooling of experience of
work for civil protection;

training programmes,

(f)

that cooperation between schools and national training
centres that are active in the field of civil protection
should progress at a faster pace;

of

(g) the value of assessing the experience in the voluntary
sector
private
organisations involved in civil protection in order to
make better use of their resources and to enhance their
contribution to civil protection-related activities.

non-governmental

other

and

7. OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND INSTRUMENTS

EMPHASISE:

(a)

the progress made regarding assistance arrangements
between the Member States
and civil protection
organisations;

(b) the value of

the Community’s operational manual
listing national and Community points of contact,
points of access to expert opinion on certain areas of
intervention, as well as registers of the resources that
are available in each Member State and the procedures
and arrangements for making such resources available,
which contribute
coordination between
Member States;

to better

(c)

the value of
the 24-hour operational service on a
stand-by basis provided by the Commission and of
arrangements with the Commission relating to the
secondment of experts;

(d) the usefulness of

the common emergency phone
Council Decision
number
91/396/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the introduction of a
single European emergency call number (1);

established

112

by

(e)

(f)

role of

the permanent network of national
the
correspondents
of
the
ensuring
Community cooperation and in collecting information
on the assistance available in each Member State in the
event of a disaster;

consistency

in

the important
role that general directors of civil
protection or their counterparts can play in setting key
priorities and common objectives and in ensuring a
high degree of coordination,
their
regular meetings.

in particular at

8.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

(a) STRESSING,

that coordination of measures taken at
international
level, for example in the framework of
the UN, OSCE and NATO, should be enhanced in
order to rationalise the use of the resources involved in
such measures; noting the intention of the Member
States and the Commission to undertake steps with a
view to avoiding duplication and to enhance the most
efficient possible use of expertise;

(b) NOTE that EFTA countries are participating in various
activities under the Community action programme;

(1) OJ L 217, 6.8.1991, p. 31.

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(c) WELCOME the fact

that
transboundary effects of
into force on 19 April 2000;

the UN/ECE Convention on
industrial accidents entered

(d)

the Council and of

the representatives of

INSIST on a prompt implementation of the Resolution
the
of
Governments of the Member States, meeting within the
Council, of 9 December 1999 on cooperation with
candidate central and east European Countries and
Cyprus on civil protection (1), as regards in particular
the exchange of information between them, including
as regards operational manuals. CONSIDER that
the
same treatment should be given to the other countries
that are candidates for accession to the European
Union;

(e)

INVITE the Commission and Member States to continue
the pilot project on civil protection undertaken in the
framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Strategy and to
explore ways and means
towards a strengthened
cooperation under that strategy;

9. CIVIL PROTECTION RESOURCES IN THE FRAMEWORK OF

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

crisis management outlined by

(a) NOTING that, when implementing the action plan for
the
non-military
Helsinki European Council of December 1999, civil
protection assets may have to be used and that, as a
consequence,
inter-pillar
coherence is aimed at;

it should be ensured that

(b) WELCOME the priority given to civil protection in the
study on concrete targets on civilian aspects of crisis
Feira
management which was
European Council on 19 and 20 June 2000;

submitted to the

(c) NOTE the setting up by a Council Decision, adopted on
22 May 2000, of a Committee for Civilian Aspects of
Crisis Management (2);

(f) ALSO INVITE the Commission and Member States to
explore ways and means to establish a similar action
through a Eurobaltic programme for civil protection
cooperation in the Baltic and Barents region.

(d) RECOMMEND that civil protection resources or assets of
Member States may be used in the framework of crisis
management in support of the CFSP, following their
examination by the competent bodies.

(1) OJ C 373, 23.12.1999, p. 2.

(2) OJ L 127, 27.5.2000, p. 1.