Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions -  Commission provisions on “ARGUS” general rapid alert system
Date: 2005-12-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, cooperation policy, dissemination of information, emergency aid, natural disaster, terrorism

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.12.2005 
COM(2005) 662 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Commission provisions on “ARGUS” general rapid alert system 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Recent  crises,  both  natural  (the  Indian  Ocean  tsunami  in  December  2004)  and  man-made 
(Madrid  2004  and  London  2005  terrorist  attacks),  as  well  as  foreseeable  threats  to  human 
health (Influenza Pandemic) have highlighted the need to strengthen the instruments ensuring 
effective  and  coordinated  management  of  major  multisectoral  crises  that  require  action  at 
Community level. Although Member States have the primary responsibility for the response 
in  case  of  an  emergency,  the  Commission  has  a  role  to  play.  In  the  event  of  a  crisis,  the 
Commission may be called upon to act in its own domains of competence and to support the 
efforts  of  Member  States.  The  cooperation  within  the  Commission  will  facilitate  mutual 
assistance  in  the  event  of  a  major  disaster  in  the  EU  and  assist  Member  States  in  the 
implementation  of  their  solidarity  commitment  to  third  countries.  The  Commission  must 
provide comprehensive and coherent information to the public and the media on the actions 
and  efforts  deployed,  in  a  timely  manner  and  through  appropriate  channels.  This  will 
contribute to a more effective communication with citizens. 

The European Council, in particular in the wake of the terrorist attacks, has called upon the 
Commission  to  act.  The  Brussels  European  Council  of  November  2004,  in  adopting  the 
Hague programme, called for the Commission “to set up within its existing structures, while 
fully  respecting  national  competences,  integrated  and  coordinated  EU  crisis-management 
arrangements  for  crises  with  cross-border  effects  within  the  EU,  to  be  implemented  at  the 
latest  by  1  July  2006”.  Austria,  Luxemburg,  the  Netherlands  and  the  United  Kingdom 
presidencies have launched a joint initiative to implement this part of the Hague Programme. 
Most recently, in its declaration on the EU response to the London bombings of 13 July 2005, 
the  Council  requested  the  development  of  emergency  response  capabilities  both  at  Member 
State and EU level, including those required to respond to a bio-terrorist attack, as well as of 
arrangements to share information, ensure coordination and enable collective decision making 
in  an  emergency,  particularly  for  terrorist  attacks  on  more  than  one  Member  State.  The 
Council has also welcomed on 7 November 2005 “the continuing work in collaboration with 
the  Commission  to  develop  a  comprehensive  plan…on  the  human  influenza  pandemic 
threats”. 

Information  sharing,  internal  coordination,  consolidating  the  alert  systems  managed  by  the 
Commission  and  availability  of  appropriate  processes  for  decision  making  in  the  event  of  a 
crisis are key elements of preparedness and response planning. The Commission has already 
announced  additional  measures  to  strengthen  the  existing  instruments  and  to  meet  the 
mandates  given  by  the  European  Council.  In  its  communication  on  preparedness  and 
consequence management in the fight against terrorism of 20 October 2004 (COM(2004)701), 
the  Commission  stated  it  would  create  a  general  rapid  alert  system  (ARGUS)  to  link  all 
specialised  systems  for  emergencies.  Moreover,  a  central  crisis  centre1  (CCC)  would  be 
established, which would bring together representatives of all relevant Commission services 
during an emergency. The CCC would coordinate efforts so as to evaluate the best practicable 
options for action and to decide on the appropriate response measures. 

Taking also into account the structures proposed by the Council Presidencies, in particular the 
"EU  Crisis  Coordination  Arrangements"  (EUCCA)  and  the  related  "EU  Integrated  Crisis 
Management  Arrangements"  (EUICMA),  the  Commission  supports  the  need  for  flexible 
coordination arrangements at EU level. Improved coordination at political level would allow 

1 

Name changed in current legal base. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
the Union to take maximum advantage of the available technical expertise and infrastructure, 
including the specialised Rapid Alert Systems (hereafter RAS) managed by the Commission. 
The Commission would have a strategic role to play, adding value through facilitating work 
of the Member States, to ensure coherence and consistency in their actions.  

This  document  sets  out  the  principles,  processes  and  instruments  proposed  to  implement 
ARGUS. The system will be operational as of 1 January 2006. 

2. 

OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES 

The general rapid alert system (hereafter: ARGUS) aims at  

–  Providing  an  internal  platform  enabling  the  Directorates-general  and  services  of  the 
Commission  to  exchange,  in  real  time,  relevant  information  on  emerging  multisectoral 
crises  or  foreseeable  or  imminent  threat  thereof  requiring  action  at  Community  level, 
whatever their nature, to facilitate coordination and cooperation and ultimately improve the 
efficiency and the consistency of the Commission response; 

–  Making  available  an  appropriate  coordination  process  to  be  activated  in  the  event  of  a 
major  crisis.  This  would  allow  the  Commission  to  take  decisions  and  manage  a  rapid, 
coordinated  and  coherent  Commission  response  based  on  all  relevant  information,  in  its 
domains of competence and in cooperation with the other institutions; 

–  Providing  the  context  to  communicate  effectively  with  citizens  and  to  offer  a  balanced, 

coherent and complete picture of the efforts deployed by the Commission. 

The principles underlying ARGUS are the following: 

–  The principle of subsidiarity.  

–  The  system  will  respect  the  specific  characteristics,  competence  and  expertise  of  the 
existing RAS of the Commission, which will continue to carry out their current functions 
according to their specific procedures. 

–  ARGUS will operate in the event of a multisectoral crisis requiring action at Community 
level, whether affecting the citizens, the assets or the interests of Member States or third 
countries, whatever its cause and nature. 

–  At this stage, the communication network will be internal to the Commission and link its 
various RAS, Directorates-general and services. Member States will be connected through 
the RAS and their specific networks. This coordination will provide a comprehensive and 
consolidated  database  of  relevant  validated  information  when  the  Commission  would  be 
called upon to cooperate with Members States and the other institutions.  

–  ARGUS will use existing technology and infrastructure supported by Directorate General 
Informatics.  Although  at  this  stage,  the  ARGUS  communication  network  will  not  handle 
European Union Classified Information, the Commission is considering options to develop 
a more robust and efficient system. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
–  The  system  will  be  reviewed,  at  the  latest  one  year  after  the  entry  into  force  of  the 
corresponding  Commission  Decision,  in  the  light  of  experience  gained  and  technological 
progress to ensure interlinkages and coordination of existing specialised networks. 

–  The system will function within the existing resources and means of the services.  

–  With  respect  to  external  communication,  the  communication  will  be  ensured  at  the  most 
appropriate  geographical  level  (ie  headquarters  or  from  a  representation/delegation)  and 
through  appropriate  instruments  to  reach  and  fully  inform  the  public  (press  conference, 
press release, internet…) 

3. 

ARGUS 

ARGUS  shall  consist  of  an  internal  communication  network  and  a  specific  coordination 
process to be activated in case of a major multisectoral crisis. This process is defined in the 
annex to the Commission decision amending its internal rules of Procedures called common 
provisions setting-up the “ARGUS” general rapid alert system. 

The internal electronic communications network will be realised through an information bus 
architecture. It will draw on existing databases and internal messaging technologies and will 
be  supported  by  other  means  of  communication  (SMS,  phone).  Members  of  the  ARGUS 
network  will  use  it  to  share  relevant  information  in  real  time  on  emerging  and  active  crises 
and to coordinate response as appropriate. The information transmitted through the ARGUS 
bus will be available to all members, stored and logged. The system will be updated on the 
basis of experience gained and technological progress. 

In  the  event  of  a  major  crisis,  the  President  may  decide,  on  his  own  initiative  after  having 
been  alerted  or  at  the  request  of  a  Member  of  the  Commission,  to  activate  a  specific 
coordination process. The President may decide either to keep the responsibility to himself or 
to  assign  the  responsibility  for  the  Commission  response  to  a  Member  of  the  Commission. 
Such responsibility will entail leading and coordinating the response to the crisis, representing 
the Commission towards the other institutions and being responsible for communicating with 
the public. The Secretariat general, under the authority of the President or the Member of the 
Commission  to  whom  the  responsibility  was  assigned,  will  activate  the  specific  operational 
crisis management structure called Crisis Coordination Committee (CCC). 

The CCC will assess and monitor the development of the situation, identify issues and options 
for  decision  and  action,  ensure  that  decisions  and  actions  are  implemented  and  ensure  the 
coherence  and  consistency  of  the  Commission  response.  However,  decisions  agreed  within 
the CCC will  be adopted through normal Commission decision-making  procedures and will 
be executed by services and RAS. 

EN 

4 

   EN