Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism
Date: 2023-04-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), European Commission
Subjects: civil defence, emergency aid, fire protection, natural disaster

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.4.2023  COM(2023) 194 final 2023/0095 (COD)  Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

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CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

The  proposal  is  intended  to  amend  Decision  No  1313/2013/EU  of  the  European  Parliament 
and  of  the  Council  of  17  December  2013  on  a  Union  Civil  Protection  Mechanism1  (‘the 
Decision’),  under  which  the  European  Union  supports,  coordinates  and  supplements  the 
actions of Member States2 in the field of civil protection to prevent, prepare for and respond 
to natural and man-made disasters within and outside the Union.  

The sole purpose of the proposed change is to ensure that the Union can continue providing 
emergency  support  to  Member  States  in  fighting  wildfires  through  the  capacities  developed 
under the ‘rescEU transition’, until the permanent European aerial forest firefighting fleet will 
become  available.  In  concrete  terms,  this  proposal  suggests  extending  the  end  of  the 
transitional period referred to in Article 35 from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027. This 
date is aligned with the end of the current Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF).  

With rising temperatures and prolonged periods of drought, the wildfire risk in the  Union is 
increasing  in  scope  and  the  wildfires  are  becoming  more  frequent  and  intense.  The  2022 
wildfire season in the Union was a record-breaking season. The total number of wildfires in 
the  Union  above  30  hectares  totalled  2  707.  786  316  hectares  (over  three  times  the  size  of 
Luxembourg)  of  land  were  burnt.  This  amount  has  significantly  increased  compared  to  the 
year  before  (416  413  hectares).  Furthermore,  the  data  for  2022  reveal  a  more  than  250% 
increase  over  the  average  burnt  area  of  land  since  Union-level  recording  started  in  2006. 
Wildfires have become a serious pan-European concern, affecting not only the Mediterranean 
region, but also countries including Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia, as demonstrated 
by their recent activations of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. As a notable example, 
Sweden experienced severe wildfires in 2018. In 2022, 20 Member States have recorded more 
burned areas than their average over previous years.  

As  demonstrated  by  the  wildfire  seasons  of  recent  years,  the  environmental,  climatic, 
economic  and  societal  losses  associated  with  wildfires  are  immense.  In  2022  alone,  the 
wildfires  have  led  to  estimated  economic  losses  above  EUR  2  billion,  and  more  than  25 
million tonnes of CO2 emitted. Approximately 35% of the burnt areas in 2022 are included in 
Natura 2000 sites3.   

This alarming acceleration of wildfires across Europe  is expected to continue in the coming 
years due to the impact of climate change. President Von der Leyen addressed this concern in 
her State of the Union speech in September 2022, where she stated that “as disasters become 

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OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924–947  
In light of Article 28(1a) of Decision No 1313/2013/EU, where reference is made to Member States, it 
shall  be  understood  as  including  Participating  States  as  defined  in  Article  4(12)  of  Decision  No 
1313/2013/EU. 
Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some 
rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right, stretching across all 27 EU countries, 
both on land and at sea. The aim of the  network is to ensure the long-term survival of  Europe's  most 
valuable  and  threatened  species  and  habitats,  listed  under  both  the  Birds  Directive  (Directive 
2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation 
of  wild  birds)  and  the  Habitats  Directive  (Council  Directive  92/43/EEC  of  21  May  1992  on  the 
conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora). 

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more  frequent  and  more  intense,  Europe  will  need  more  capacity.  This  is  why  I  can  today 
announce that we will double our firefighting capacity over the next year.” 

With an amendment to the Decision in 20194, rescEU was created as a European reserve of 
capacities to provide assistance in overwhelming situations where overall existing capacities 
at national level and those pre-committed by Member States to the European Civil Protection 
Pool  are  not  able  or  are  insufficient  to  ensure  an  effective  response  to  the  various  kinds  of 
disasters.  Such  capacities  have  been  developed,  in  particular,  in  the  area  of  aerial  forest 
firefighting  to  supplement  national  capacities5.  While  some  of  those  capacities  are  readily 
accessible on the market and can be purchased relatively quickly, the availability of the aerial 
forest firefighting capacities takes more time. To ensure a smooth transition towards the full 
implementation  of  rescEU,  the  Commission  was  empowered,  for  a  transitional  period  of  an 
initial  five  years,  to  provide  financing  to  ensure  the  rapid  availability  of  relevant  national 
capacities.  It  was  also  specified  that  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  should 
endeavour to obtain additional capacities, including fire-fighting helicopters, in order to better 
and more efficiently respond to the risk of wildfires, as early as the summer of 20196. It was 
estimated at the time, based on a market study on currently available aerial forest firefighting 
assets  released  on  9  July  20187,  that  five  years  would  be  sufficient,  in  particular  for 
specialised aircraft to be accessible once again on the market, allowing for the development of 
permanent fleet. Therefore, an end date of 1 January 2025 was introduced in Article 35 of the 
Decision  for  the  application  of  that  transitional  provision.  However,  recent  market 
developments and more specifically, the absence of the required highly-specialised aircraft on 
the  market  show  that  a  longer  timeframe  (beyond  2024)  is  needed  for  the  development  of 
amphibious aerial forest firefighting aircraft. The negotiations with the manufacturer of such 
specialised aircraft are in their final stage; the delivery of such first planes at an agreed cost is 
expected to  start  in  2026 according to  the latest  reassurances provided by the manufacturer. 
Thus,  the  end  date  set  out  in  Article  35  needs  to  be  further  extended  until  the  end  of  the 
current MFF, which is 31 December 2027. This period would cover the entire MFF financial 
envelope of the UCPM in accordance with Article 19.1a.  

This proposal is meant to ensure the rapid availability of relevant national capacities beyond 
the 2024 wildfire season,  when the application of the  current  transitional provision  is  set  to 
expire. The contracts will need to be prepared well in advance, in 2024, for the deployment of 
aerial  forest  firefighting  capacities.  As  a  result,  the  Decision  needs  to  be  amended  in  the 
current legislature period to allow for the preparations to start in 2024. Therefore, it is urgent 
that the co-legislators deliberate swiftly on this targeted proposal. 

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

This proposal exclusively concerns the extension of the period referred to in Article 35 of the 
Decision  and  does  not  otherwise  affect  the  substance  of  that  provision.  Therefore,  the 
proposal remains fully consistent with the existing policy provisions in the area.  

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Decision (EU)  2019/420 of the European Parliament and of the  Council of 13 March 2019 amending 
Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism, OJ L 77I, 20.3.2019, p. 1. 
Other  rescEU  areas  cover  amongst  others  chemical,  biological,  radiological  and  nuclear  incidents,  emergency 
medical response, as well as transport and logistics and emergency energy supply.  
Recital  34  of  the  Decision  (EU)  2019/420  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13  March  2019 
amending Decision No 1313/2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism, OJ L 77, 20.3.2019, p.1 
A  STUDY  ON  CURRENTLY  AVAILABLE  AERIAL  FOREST  FIRE  FIGHTING  ASSETS  CONTRACT 
ECHO/2018/A1/396_01. 

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Consistency with other Union policies 

No legislative act under other Union policies can currently achieve the objective pursued by 
this proposal. There is, therefore, no overlap with other actions in the policy area. Attention, 
however, is being paid to ensuring close coordination, consistency and complementarity with 
actions  carried  out  under  other  Union  policies.  It  also  creates  synergies  with  other  policy 
areas,  such  as  climate  change  adaptation  and  instruments  in  the  field  of  disaster  prevention 
and disaster risk reduction that aim to better tackle the impacts of climate change.  

2. 

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LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The  legal  basis  for  this  proposal  is  Article  196  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the 
European Union. 

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The Union has  a supporting competence in  the area of civil  protection. Member States bear 
the  primary  responsibility  when  it  comes  to  preventing,  preparing  for  and  responding  to 
disasters.  One  of  the  reasons  that  the  Union  Civil  Protection  Mechanism  was  established  is 
because major disasters  can overwhelm the response capacities of any  Member State acting 
alone. The provision of well-coordinated and rapid mutual assistance amongst Member States 
is  at  its  core.  The  objective  of  the  proposal  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by  the  Member 
States acting on their own. This is particularly significant when they are faced with a disaster, 
or  several  disasters,  with  wide-ranging  impacts  that  overwhelm  the  capacities  of  Member 
States  and  that  may  hinder  mutual  assistance  amongst  them.  Union  action  in  this  field 
therefore  involves  managing  situations  with  strong  cross-border  and  multi-country/regional 
components that require overall coordination and concerted action beyond the national level. 
This  includes  the  provision  of  capacities  such  as  specialised  aircraft  that  can  reduce  the 
impacts  of  wildfires.  The  benefits  include  reducing  the  loss  of  human  life,  environmental, 
economic and material damage.  

• 

Proportionality 

The  proposal  does  not  go  beyond  what  is  necessary  to  achieve  the  objective  and  builds  on 
existing  policy.  It  addresses  a  specific  gap  that  has  been  identified  since  the  adoption  of 
Decision (EU) 2019/420 of the European Parliament and the Council amending Decision No 
1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism and Regulation (EU) 2021/836 of the 
European Parliament and the Council amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil 
Protection  Mechanism  and  proposes  a  targeted  solution.  The  administrative  burden  falling 
upon the Union and Member States remains limited since the current proposal does not alter 
this.  

• 

Choice of the instrument 

Given its limited scope,  a proposal for a Decision amending Decision No 1313/2013  of the 
European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism is suggested 
as appropriate. 

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3. 

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RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation 

Not applicable. 

• 

Stakeholder consultations 

In the wake of devastating  wildfires in  Southern and Central  Europe in  2022, the European 
Commission convened an Informal Ministerial Meeting on Reinforcing Wildfire Preparedness 
and  Response  in  Brussels  on  5  September  2022.  Ministers,  State  Secretaries  and  Directors 
General  for  Civil  Protection  of  the  Member  States  discussed  rapid  coordinated  European 
action, within the framework of the UCPM, to better protect the Union and its citizens from 
fires  in  2023  and  beyond.  A  particular  concern  was  raised  on  the  absence  of  sufficient 
firefighting planes and helicopters in  all affected countries that puts  additional  strain  on the 
already  established  seasonal  European  safety  net  of  firefighting  aircraft,  co-financed  by  the 
Commission and meant to temporarily bridge gaps until the permanent new European fleet of 
firefighting aircraft (called rescEU and composed of 14 medium and light amphibious planes 
and nine medium-sized helicopters to complement national fleets) will become available as of 
2026.  A  broad  consensus  was  therefore  reached  to  expand  the  existing  seasonal  European 
safety  net  of  firefighting  airplanes  by  financing  the  inclusion  of  additional  helicopters  and 
light aircraft in key European areas as of summer 2023. This approach was also discussed at 
the 49th informal meeting of Directors-General for Civil Protection in Prague in October 2022 
and with Member States at technical level.   

• 

Collection and use of expertise 

In  preparing  this  proposal,  the  Commission  has  relied  on  external  expertise  on  the  topic  of 
wildfire  prevention,  preparedness  and  response.  One  of  the  Commission’s  expert  groups, 
‘Experts group on lessons learnt from the handled emergencies’ met on 10-11 January 20238. 
Among the main outcomes of this meeting was the consensus  that the 2022 wildfire season 
was  one  of  the  most  challenging  in  Europe’s  history  and  that  there  is  a  clear  lack  of  aerial 
assets  across  Europe  to  address  a  growing  number  of  simultaneous  fires.  The  Emergency 
Response  Coordination  Centre’s  gap  analysis  shows  a  daily  average  gap  of  four  aircraft 
during the periods  with  open requests of  assistance from Member States, with  a peak of 10 
aircraft during some days  of the active wildfire  period. The experts recognised  a clear need 
for more assets at both national and Union level.   

• 

Impact assessment 

Due to the technical and urgent nature of the proposal, no impact assessment was carried out. 
However,  lessons  learnt  from  the  2022  wildfire  season,  identified  in  close  cooperation  with 
relevant  stakeholders,  both  at  national  and  Union  level,  have  fed  into  the  proposal 
(stakeholders agreed to a prolonged application of the provision). This has contributed to an 
assessment of the impact of the proposed policy that will extend the current practice.  

• 

Regulatory fitness and simplification 

Not relevant. 

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Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (europa.eu) 

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• 

Fundamental rights 

Not relevant. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

Starting  in  2023,  the  rescEU  transitional  fleet  aims  to  have  a  total  of  22  planes  and  4 
helicopters.  Sustaining this level of fleet capacity until the end of the current MFF (that is to 
say, 31 December 2027) is indispensable. Given the overall investment made into the aerial 
forest  firefighting  fleet,  the  estimated  budgetary  impact  can  be  accommodated  within  the 
existing financial envelope of the UCPM.  

5. 

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OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

Article  34  of  the  Decision  provides  that  actions  receiving  financial  assistance  shall  be 
monitored regularly in order to follow their implementation.  The Commission must evaluate 
the application of the Decision and submit interim and ex post evaluation reports, as well as a 
communication  on  the  effectiveness,  cost  efficiency  and  continued  implementation  of  the 
Decision to  the European Parliament and Council. Such evaluations  should be based on the 
indicators  listed  under  Article  3  of  the  Decision.  An  evaluation  is  currently  ongoing  and  is 
expected to be finalised by December 2023 in line with Article 34(3) of the Decision.  

• 

Explanatory documents (for directives) 

Not relevant. 

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Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

This legislative initiative proposes extending the end date of the period referred to in Article 
35 of the Decision until 31 December 2027.   

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2023/0095 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 196 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee9,  
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions10, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council11 defines 
the  legal  framework  of  rescEU.  rescEU  aims  to  provide  assistance  in  overwhelming 
situations  where  overall  existing  capacities  at  national  level  and  those  committed  by 
Member  States  to  the  European  Civil  Protection  Pool  are  not  able  to  ensure  an 
effective response.  

(2)  With  rising  temperatures  and  prolonged  periods  of  drought,  the  wildfire  risk  in  the 
European Union is increasing in scope and the wildfires are becoming more frequent 
and more intense. The limited availability of specialised response capacities, including 
amphibious  aerial  forest  firefighting  capacities,  remains  a  major  weakness  and 
constitutes  the  Union’s  main  operational  challenge  when  confronting  simultaneous 
wildfires.  

(3) 

Due  to  the  necessary  flexibility  that  has  been  afforded  by  the  period  provided  in 
Article  35  of  Decision  No  1313/2013/EU,  it  is  critical  to  extend  the  end  date  of  ‘1 
January 2025’ to ‘31 December 2027’ to ensure that the Union can secure additional 
aerial  rescEU  capacities  under  the  Union  Civil  Protection  Mechanism  while  the 
permanent European aerial forest firefighting fleet is gradually established. 

(4) 

Decision No 1313/2013/EU should therefore be amended accordingly,  

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OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a 
Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924). 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

Amendment 

Decision No 1313/2013/EU is amended as follows: 

(1) In Article 35, the first paragraph, the date ‘1 January 2025’ is replaced by ’31 December 
2027’. 

Article 2 

Entry into force 

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 3 

Addressees 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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