CELEX: 51987PC0161
Language: en
Date: 1987-04-08
Title: COOPERATION IN THE COMMUNITY ON CIVIL DEFENCE (Communication by the Commission)#DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES meeting within the Council on the introduction of Community cooperation on civil defence

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (87) 161
Vol. 1987/0094
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983 concernant
l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique européenne et de
la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, p. 1) modifié en dernier
lieu par le règlement (UE) 2015/496 du Conseil du 17 mars 2015 (JO L79 du 25. 3.2015, p. 1), ce
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informations classifiées de l'Union européenne.
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 concerning
the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic Community and the
European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as last amended by Council
Regulation (EU) 2015/496 of 17 March 2015 (OJ L 79, 27.3.2015, p. 1), this file is open to the
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with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation or are considered declassified in conformity with
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on the security rules for protecting EU classified information.
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1. Februar
1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und
der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983, S. 1), zuletzt geändert durch die
Verordnung (EU) Nr. 2015/496 vom 17. März 2015 (ABI. L 79 vom 25.3.2015, S. 1), ist dieser Akt
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Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5 der genannten Verordnung freigegeben; beziehungsweise werden
sie auf Grundlage von Artikel 26(3) und 59(2) der Entscheidung der Kommission (EU, Euratom)
2015/444    vom   13.   März   2015   über die   Sicherheitsvorschriften für den Schutz von  EU-
Verschlusssachen als herabgestuft angesehen.
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                      COM(87 ) 161 final
                                                      Brussels , 13 April 1987
                         COOPERATION IN THE COMMUNITY
                               ON CIVIL DEFENCE
                      ( Communication by the Commission )
          DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND THE REPRESENTATIVES
                   OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES
             meeting within the Council on the introduction of
                    Community cooperation on civil defence
 C0M(87 ) 161 final
 ---pagebreak---                                      SUMMARY
  I.  INTRODUCTION
 II . NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
III . BASIS FOR COOPERATION
      .  Guide to civil defence
      .  Permanent network of liaison officers
          (a ) Extent of coordination and procedures
          (b ) Administrative provisions and operational details
      .  Disaster simulation and training
      .  Public information
Draft resolution of the Council and Representatives of the Governments of the
Member States meeting within the Council .
 ---pagebreak--- I.   INTRODUCTION
1.   At    an  informal   meeting  in Rome   on 2   and 3 May 1985 , the Ministers
responsible for civil defence in the Member States suggested that :
-  the Commission should examine the possibility of cooperation between the
   Member States ;
-  a high-level working party on civil defence should be convened to provide a
   channel for the regular exchange of information and frequent meetings held
   at ministerial level .
                                                                                  1
2.   In November 1985 the Commission sent the Member States a working paper
giving its initial impressions .
3.   At their meeting in March 1986,      the senior civil servants responsible for
civil    defence decided    to produce    an  inventory  of existing  bilateral and
multilateral cooperation .        The national experts carried out the preparatory
     2
work    and in November 1986 the senior civil servants examined their report and
identified a number of possible areas for Community cooperation .
4.   Moreover ,    Parliament has repeatedly expressed an interest in this subject
and has called for the establishment at Community level of a European disaster
IsEC ( 85 ) 1833.
*SEC(86>1655 .
 ---pagebreak---                                           - 2 -
relief programme^ calling on the Commission to submit proposals for the
coordination of assistance between Member States .
5.   The basic principle underlying any initiative in this area is that the
Community dimension should make the action under consideration more effective
either   by    creating   benefits    of   scale  or    by    reducing   or   eliminating
duplication .
II .  MATURE Of THE PROBLEM
6.   In a disaster ,    whether natural or industrial ,       the Member State affected
                                              4
may be incapable of reacting adequately .
The object of disaster management is to prevent incidents as far as possible
and to reduce their effects on the population .         It therefore entails more than
merely responding to emergencies ;        it involves forecasting,         early warning ,
rescue   operations ,     disaster    control ,   aid     and   short   and   medium-term
reconstruction .
7.   One of the main problems ,     in all types of disaster ,      is the deployment of
available    resources   and  the   effectiveness    of   the   response .      These  are
determined by :
"^Ghergo resolution ( 1-111 / 81 ),    Combe resolution (1-364/81 and 1-1349/83):
Acf . OJ C 77/ 84 of 19.2.1984 .
  This document does not cover :
  -  nuclear accidents ,
  -   Chemical accidents ( Seveso ; marine and fresh water pollution ),
  -  terrorism,
  -  mass épidémies ,
  all of which are the subject of other procedures .
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 3 -
- rapid information on the nature of the disaster ,    the risk involved,  the
   scale and extent of the incident ;
-  identification and prompt evaluation of the resources available;
- the possibility of conveying information to those authorized to take
   decisions and to provide immediate aid;
- matching of assistance to the specific requirements which,    in some cases ,
   are quite new .
All Member States have some degree of national planning to provide the best
possible response to different types of emergency and there is a wide range of
sectoral plans dealing with specific disasters .
Apart from making intervention more effective,            cooperation between
Member States allows technical information to be exchanged and time and
resources to be saved in the development of the most appropriate procedures .
8.    The senior civil servants decided to concentrate first of all on action
during the disaster which, in several countries,         is traditionally the
responsibility of the Civil Defence .
III .   BASIS FOR COOPERATION
6UIDE TO CIVIL DEFENCE
9.    At present ,   information passes from country to country by means of
official or informal contacts between heads of civil defence departments .
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 4 -
Cooperation will be facilitated and made more effective by a guide describing
the latest situation as regards disaster relief in the Community, including
information on mechanisms for placing the emergency services on alert and for
raising the alarm in good time, on the possibilities for calling on outside
assistance, the coordination of action extending beyond national frontiers and
the range of resources which can be deployed . The purpose of this guide will
be to help members of the civil defence service and other authorities
responsible for relief planning at national or local level to prepare better
action plans for major emergencies .
The draft guide contains the following main types of information :
- existing bilateral and multilateral agreements on mutual assistance ;
- warning systems ,   means of implementing relief plans ,   and communications
   systems ;
- existing procedures for the exchange of information ,          including the
   frequency of meetings ;
- names , addresses and telephone numbers of organizations to be contacted;
- ail specialist resources ( lists of equipment ,  personnel ,  services , data
   base , etc. ).
 ---pagebreak---                                             - 5 -
PERMANENT NETWORK OF LIAISON OFFICERS
10 . One of the major problems is providing other countries with information
about the incident quickly .          In the past / information on what is needed and
in what quantities/ generally issued by the competent organizations / has been
very limited .      The time has come to introduce a more effective machinery for
cooperation between the Member States and procedures for assessing the action
that needs to be taken and what has already been done .
The senior civil servants agreed that steps should be taken at Community level
to improve/ by better information and greater cooperation/ the resources
available to the Member States in the event of disasters both in terms of
immediate relief and short term emergency aid .
(a )  Extent of coordination and procedures
 11 . Coopération will concentrate on immédiate emergency relief .
Once an incident occurs the prime objective should be speed of response .          In
these circumstances cooperation will take the form of an exchange of
information between liaison officers on the situation in the country or
countries concerned and the production of an inventory of action already
taken .
 12 . The liaison officers' first task will therefore be to circulate ,         where
necessary, information on the nature and scale of requirements in any
emergency .       The role of the Member States will be to transmit all the
information at their disposal to the liaison officers .
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 6 -
13 . In addition,    a list of the measures taken by the Member States and the
Community will have to be prepared and circulated to all concerned in the form
of progress reports on the operations as a whole .       The public will also be
informed by appropriate means .
14 . Joint operations will also seek to bring assistance more into line with
requirements during the second stage - when coordination becomes more
important than speed .
Preparations for the final stage of restoring normality to the disaster area
will , of course, make use of the information acquired during the emergency aid
stage .
(b)    Administrative provisions and operational details
15 . The Member States and the Commission will appoint a person with the
appropriate means of communication to maintain direct contact with the other
liaison officers and gather data on emergency aid .
16 .   Contacts within this network will need to be as flexible as possible .
Contacts could be made :
- by telephone, telex or telefax , in the interests of speed,
- at informal meetings to be convened by the Commission 's liaison officer
     where necessary and attended by liaison officers involved in a given
     operation,
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 7 -
- during visits to the scene by the liaison officers directly involved in
     national operations .
17 . The possibility of holding regular meetings of Ministers and senior civil
servants responsible for civil defence in the Member States had already been
discussed at the ministerial meeting in Rome in May 1985 .
Unquestionably, the consultations conducted by the Commission and the meetings
of civil defence experts proved valuable to all concerned and helped to
improve awareness and understanding of individual situations and problems .
Permanent contacts and regular meetings between experts will encourage
cooperation and consultation on the activities of individual Member States .
This type of meeting can also lead to the exchange of information on new ideas
and progress made in each Member State in terms of information systems and the
resources which can be made available .
This group, which might meet once a year or more often at the request of a
Member State or the Commission, would therefore have several tasks associated
with the various actions and activities referred to in this document .        In
particular,     it would be responsible for ensuring that plans for cooperation
were in fact implemented in the Member States and for reporting on them at
regular intervals .
 18 . It might also study other forms of cooperation on civil defence dealing
with other stages not yet considered in detail ( forecasting, prevention, etc ).
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 8 -
DISASTER SIMULATION AND TRAINING
19 . It is necessary to ensure that the plans and available resources are
compatible and this can best be done by means of simulation exercises .
In particular/ the cooperation which needs to be developed in these areas
should gradually lead to :
(a)  a "common language" and standardization of vocabulary for ideas/ strategy
     and logistics alike;
(b)  "operational units"    which/ because of their specialization / could be
     placed on alert and   directed by the quickest possible means to the scene
     of the disaster ;     a common radio frequency and a single emergency
     telephone number in   all Member States might facilitate matters .
20 . The Commission has successfully tackled these problems in the specific
area of fighting forest fires .          In 1985 the first Community forest
firefighting exercise was financed and organized in France at the Commission 's
initiative .
This exercise/ (" FLORAC 85") proved that it was possible to mobilize land and
airborne fire-fighting teams from the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece ,
Italy, Spain and Portugal within 24 hours .
It became clear during this exercise that many of the limiting factors on
cooperation could be removed if each partner :
 ---pagebreak---                  ><*■* ,. 4 ».k •*
                                                - 9 -
- accepted the principle of a minimum standardization of its materials and
     the harmonization of procedures for committing its resources ;
- made provision for regular contacts between senior experts to draft
     harmonized standards and provide information / training material for use in
     the national training modules of each civil defence department .
21 . This specific experiment has more general advantages for civil defence,
since every type of natural disaster immediately reveals analogies and
similarities with scenarios for the deployment of resources in other types of
disaster .
A European dimension to operations in this area will largely be a matter of
the timing of exercises, the attendance of observers from all Member States,
the organization, where appropriate, of seminars to draw conclusions from the
various exercises, the choice, where possible, of distinct types of " risk",
the preparation of one or more ad hoc information brochures for the public ,
the choice of frontier regions where more specific cooperation between certain
Member States , can be organized etc .
22 . Civil defence also includes intervention by specialist rescue units in the
event of a disaster, as well as a whole range of technical activities such as
first aid, land, sea and underground rescue services, and radio communications
 ( radio hams ).               Appropriate financial assistance should be provided to
encourage such activities both in terms of quality, by providing better
training, and quantity, by extending it to Community level .
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 10 -
PUBLIC   INFORMATION
23 .   Information should be understood in its broadest sense,    in this context
since it covers two concepts .     The first of these is the need to educate the
individual in preventive action, enabling him to act in a disaster to protect
himself and, possibly, take part in rescue operations .
This task is first and foremost the responsibility of the national authorities
which generally employ a variety of means ( the media , advertising, schools )
which should be supported and developed .      The Community 's role would be to
back national efforts .
24 . Secondly,     information is concerned with the resources provided at all
levels to deal with disasters .       In this connection one of the most useful
common initiatives would be the creation of a single emergency telephone
number for all the Member States , enabling individuals to raise the alarm, to
obtain information on the scale of a disaster , and to enquire about the
condition or identity of victims .
25 . The Commission will take the necessary steps to develop all forms of
cooperation and heighten public awareness of the solidarity which exists
between Member States .      These measures, which are fully in line with the
spirit and the tetter of "a people 's Europe", are bound to make a positive
contribution to the development of a sense of belonging to a Community . Young
people in particular could be encouraged to participate through exchanges and
training projects, which because they were altruistic and dynamic , would
attract young people who feel the need for commitment and action .
 ---pagebreak---                                       Draft
               Resolution of the Council and the Representatives
                    of the Governments of the Member States
               meeting within the Council on the introduction of
                     Community cooperation on civil defence
The Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
meeting within the Council :
-  whereas all the Member States have plans for dealing with natural or
   man-made disasters which might occur on their territory ;     whereas these
   plans vary in extent ,    scale of intervention and resources available for
   mobilization ;
-  whereas the Commission is already carrying out research on forecasting ,
   prevention and mitigation of natural disasters and major industrial
   accidents , and whereas the results of this research could be put to use in
   the context of Community cooperation on civil defence ; whereas instruments
   for Community cooperation already exist in other fields ( such as the
   major-accident hazards of certain industrial activities ( Directive of
   24 June 1982 ) and pollution caused by the spillage of oil and other harmful
   substances at sea ( Decision of 6 March 1986 ));
-  whereas cooperation between the Member States in this area would increase
   the ability of all Member States to respond according to circumstances and
   requirements ; whereas such cooperation could improve the efficiency of the
   individual disaster management operations ; whereas practical initiatives
   are therefore called for at Community level ;
-  whereas the Ministers responsible for civil defence at their meeting in
   Rome on 2 and 3 May 1985 reached agreement in principle on this matter ;
 ---pagebreak---                                      2
having regard to the report on cooperation in the event of a disaster
presented by the national experts in October 1986 ;
having regard to the conclusions reached by the senior civil servants
responsible for civil defence at their meeting in November 1986 ;
Referring   to   Parliament resolutions 1-111 /80   and   1-364/81  on  mutual
assistance between the Member States in the event of large-scale disasters ,
which called on the Commission to submit proposals for the coordination of
aid between Member States ;
Believing that an initiative in this area would be of direct benefit in
protecting the European citizen and would make a tangible contribution to a
people 's Europe ;
Wishing to contribute still further to the social progress of the people of
Europe ,   in line with the fundamental objectives of the Treaties
establishing the Communities and with the new impetus which the Single
European Act has given to the achievement of European Union ,
1.  Decide to create a permanent network of liaison officers from the
Member States and the Commission in the civil defence sector .     The task of
this network , which will come into operation from 1 July 1987 , will be to
permit the immediate and rapid exchange of information on requirements and
     resources available within the Community to deal with natural and
man-made disasters occurring within its territory .     This network will help
to increase potential assistance available to the individual Member States .
In addition , regular meetings of Ministers and senior civil servants
responsible for civil defence in the Member States will be held to ensure
that the Member States are implementing the various initiatives which may
be required ( simulation exercises , public information , ease with which
assistance can be summoned , single emergency telephone number , youth
training , etc .).
2 . Decide to adopt a Guide to Civil Defence in the European Community in
accordance with the draft submitted by the Commission , and request the
Commission to complete and publish the document as soon as possible .
 ---pagebreak---                                      3
3 . Request the Commission to encourage the Member States to hold regular
simulation exercises , coordinated at Community level , which could receive
Community support , in order to ensure that the preventive measures and the
organization of assistance in the event of a natural or man-made disaster
operate effectively throughout the Community .
4 . Request the Commission to introduce financial incentives to develop
schemes for training young people in voluntary rescue activities in the
civil defence sector and measures to encourage cooperation between young
volunteers from the different Member States .
5.  Urge the Commission to continue to coordinate research intonatural and
    man-made disasters .
6.  Instruct the Commission to study the possibility of extending the
    system of information networks already introduced by the Council to new
    areas at Community level .
 ---pagebreak---                          FINANCIAL STATEMENT
New budget heading ( as from 1988 ):
Article 694 " Community coopération on civil defence ".
Proposed classification : NCE
Description of the action :
Implementation of Council decisions of 25 May 1987 on civil defence .
The remarks under the new Article 694 of the budget will be worded
from 1988 as follows : " Community cooperation on civil defence ".
Nature of expenditure and method of calculation :
- Creation of a permanent network of liaison officers from Member
   States and the Commission in the civil defence sector : token entry
   ( various expenses on telecommunications equipment )
- Guide to Civil Defence : printing costs                         30 000 ECU
- Simulation exercises ( such as FLORAC 85 ):
   Community contribution                                        300 . 000 ECU
- Training : organization of field courses                       170 000 ECU
Financial impact on intervention appropriations :
500 000 ECU proposed for 1988 ( item 694 )
Staff and operation :
1A     -  1B   -  1C   ( Staff ing requi rements will be examined in the context of
                       internal redeployment or under the " rolling plan ".)
 ---pagebreak--- Fiche d' impact de certains actes législatifs sur tes PME et Remploi
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  1.   OBLIGATIONS ADMINISTRATIVES DECOULANT DÇ L' APPLICATION DE LA
       LEGISLATION POUR LES ENTREPRISES
  2.   AVANTAGES POUR L' ENTREPRISE
       - «Wl / NON
       - LESQUELLES
                      f
  3.   INCONVENIENTS       POUR L' ENTREPRISE
        ( coût supplémentaire })
       - MX / NON
       - CONSEQUENCES
  A.    EF.FET5 SUR L' EMPLOI
  3.     Y A -T- IL EU CONCERTATION PREALABLE AVEC LES PARTENAIRES
         SOCIAUX ?
        - WH / NON
         - AVIS DES PARTENAIRES SOCIAUX
   6.    Y 4-T- JL UNE APPROCHE ALTERNATIVE MOINS CONTRAIGNANTE ?
            NON