Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Community civil protection mechanism (recast) (COM(2006) 29 final — 2006/0009 (CNS))
Date: 2006-05-17
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, action programme, civil defence, cooperation policy

C 195/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

18.8.2006

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Decision
establishing a Community civil protection mechanism (recast)

(COM(2006) 29 final — 2006/0009 (CNS))

(2006/C 195/10)

On 7 March 2006, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 26 April 2006. The rapporteur was Ms
Sánchez Miguel.

At its 427th plenary session held on 17 and 18 May 2006 (meeting of 17 May), the European Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 144 votes, with one against and one abstention.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

2. Introduction

The EESC welcomes

1.1
the Decision adopted by the
Council on the Community civil protection mechanism which,
overall, takes up the observations made by the EESC in its
Opinion of November 2005 regarding the Communication on
improving this mechanism (1).

The Community civil protection mechanism was set up
2.1
in 1981 (2); since then,
together with the Civil Protection
Action Programme (3),
it has made it easier to mobilise and
coordinate civil protection inside and outside the EU. The
experience acquired over the years has made it clear that the
mechanism needs to be improved, especially since both the
European Parliament and the Council have been appreciative of
its intervention in major disasters inside and outside the EU.

1.2
The EESC wishes to stress that, as a method for simpli-
fying Community legislation, the recasting procedure makes it
easier for civil protection authorities in Member States to
understand and apply the legislation, enabling them to be more
responsive to disasters of both natural and human origin.

1.3
By strengthening the action of the mechanism through
the provision of greater powers and, above all, increased and
improved resources, intervention can be facilitated both inside
and outside the EU. The reference to coordination between the
mechanism and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humani-
tarian Affairs is of particular importance. However, the EESC
believes that it should be extended to the Red Cross and to the
NGOs which operate in affected areas, and should also act as
coordinator for the volunteers who play an important role in
disaster work.

1.4
Sufficient budget resources are crucial in order for the
mechanism to operate properly, and it is also important to
recognise the need to improve information, provide transport
means, make provision for expert training, etc. The EESC reiter-
ates the necessity of this vital point, and believes that the
Commission should have access to these funds and should
require the Member States to comply with the obligations so
that civil protection can be successfully achieved.

(1) Opinion CESE 1491/2005 of 14 December 2005. OJ C 65,

17.3.2006, p. 41.

2.2 With the aim of making the mechanism more effective,
the Commission issued a Communication (4) proposing a series
of improvements, focusing on:

— greater coordination between the mechanism and national
civil protection systems, and with international organisa-
tions, particularly the UN;

— greater preparation of teams, with particular reference to
the existence of rapid response modules and the creation of
reserve modules in each Member State, available for action
within and outside the EU;

— analysis and assessment of needs for each disaster, by
means of a warning system using the resources of the
Common Emergency Communication and Information
System (CECIS);

— reinforcing the logistical basis.

(2) Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom.
(3) Council Decision, 1999/847/EC, 9 December.
(4) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European
Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee
of
the Regions – Improving the Community Civil Protection
Mechanism COM (2005) 137 final.

18.8.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 195/41

is

the

important

Even more

3.3
inclusion of certain
improvements to the mechanism, as suggested by the EESC in
its Opinion of 2005. For example, it is worth highlighting the
reference in Article 2 to the availability of support from mili-
tary assets and capacities, which are often essential for swift,
efficient intervention. Another of the EESC's proposals was also
included: the adoption of measures for transport, logistics and
other support at Community level.

The EESC reiterates its support

3.4
for the intervention
modules which are to be provided by the Member States and
coordinated by the mechanism, and are to remain in constant
contact with the CECIS so that, by means of an early warning
system, it will be possible to deploy the appropriate resources,
including additional means of transport .

One modification has been made

3.5
that was not
mentioned in the Communication, relating to intervention
outside the EU. The modification stipulates that it will be the
Member State holding the Presidency of the EU Council that
will liaise with the affected country. Nonetheless, the CECIS will
have information and the Commission will appoint the opera-
tional coordination team which, in turn, will coordinate with
the UN. The EESC believes that the Community civil protection
mechanism should involve EU representation at the highest
level in its actions, and it therefore calls for the intervention of
the EU's foreign policy high representative; however,
it does
not consider that the system finally proposed is capable of full
implementation.

3.6
It is important to note the new Article 10, which estab-
lishes how the Community mechanism will complement
national civil protection bodies, which can be given assistance
with transport, and the mobilisation of modules and teams able
to intervene on the ground.

3.7
Lastly, Article 13 establishes the Commission's power to
implement all the measures provided for in the Decision, parti-
cularly the availability of resources for intervention, the CECIS,
the teams of experts and their training, and any other form of
additional support. The EESC welcomes the reference to avail-
ability of resources, but believes that these should be quantified
so that it is possible to act in each one of the attributed areas
of competence.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Anne-Marie SIGMUND

The EESC issued an Opinion (5) on the Communication.
2.3
It welcomed the proposed improvements, but felt that there
were some measures that could be modified in the light of
experience, especially that acquired during the recent interven-
tions in response to disasters in Asia. In its Opinion, the EESC
made the following suggestions to the Commission aimed at
improving the operation of the mechanism:

— the CECIS system could be boosted via a satellite-based
structure that would help to increase knowledge of disasters
and provide the data needed to improve the deployment of
resources and people;

— when training intervention teams, the need for language
learning should be taken into consideration, and there
should also be a visible identification system for disaster
relief workers sent by the EU;

— there should be minimum intervention measures which
would be coordinated by the mechanism and with the UN;
for this purpose, there should be a centralised technical
team on call 24 hours a day, with sufficient funds for it to
be operational under optimum conditions;

— the mechanism should be able to use its own communica-

tions and transport resources.

3. Comments on the proposal

3.1
The Council Decision, which recasts the earlier Decision
of 23 October 2001 and the aforementioned Communication
in one text, falls in line with the Commission's programme to
simplify legislation. The recasting method used will facilitate
implementation, both for the mechanism and the national
authorities responsible for civil protection. The content has also
been improved considerably, both in terms of the functioning
of the Community civil protection mechanism and the provi-
sion of resources required for it to be operational.

3.2
The EESC welcomes this initiative, which aims to clarify
the role of the Community body responsible for coordinating
disaster intervention inside and outside the EU, particularly as
its scope has been extended to include disasters of human
origin and terrorist attacks, and accidental marine pollution.

Brussels, 17 May 2006.

(5) See note 1.