Debate: Amending Decision No //EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism
Date: MONDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2020
Speaker: Johannes Hahn
Language: EN

As Europe continues to struggle with the COVID—19 pandemic, we must recognise this as one of the worst health crises the continent has experienced in over 100 years. The statistics are harsh. Within the European Union alone, almost 4 million confirmed cases and over 210 000 deaths have been recorded to date. At the beginning of the crisis, unfortunately the response to requests for assistance was often too slow, or failed to materialise. The honourable Member of Parliament, Mr Androulakis, has already referred to this, and once again I have to say that the EU Member States were not in a position to provide assistance through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism from their own resources. 25 out of 52 requests to the Mechanism remained unanswered and 27 were answered only partially. The current system of civil protection relies on solidarity among Member States. This means that it depends largely on voluntary offers from Member States. This works very well in most types of emergencies. An example is the recent explosion in Lebanon, where more than a dozen Member States offered assistance through the Union Mechanism. But the limits of the current system were quickly reached during the early stages of the COVID—19 crisis, when virtually all EU Member States were affected at the same time. The European Council recognised these limitations in its joint statement of 26 March. It gave the Commission a clear task to propose a more ambitious Crisis Management System within the European Union. The voice of the European Parliament to strengthen the Union’s mechanism was equally strong, and the Commission has reacted. The revised proposal adopted in early June aims to strengthen European response capacities by expanding the scope of rescue, drawing lessons from the COVID—19 pandemic. It would make our system more flexible, faster and more comprehensive, and ultimately more effective in the case of large—scale complex emergencies. The Commission welcomes the report by the Committee on the Environment, which recognises the impact of strengthening the Mechanism’s response capability through direct procurement of specific items by the European Commission, so that we can better support the Member States in case of need. Second, strengthening the European Response Coordination Centre, serving as a hub for the national civil protection centres to help strengthen our coordination, and thirdly putting a strong focus on prevention and preparedness, including through the establishment of Union—wide resilience goals. These are key aspects of our proposal. We also have the opportunity now to put in place an ambitious budget to support this enhanced EU Civil Protection Mechanism. As you know, the Commission has proposed to allocate EUR 3.1 billion for Civil Protection over the next seven years. The COVID—19 pandemic has shown that nature rolls the dice. This is our wake—up call. The next large scale emergency will strike again. it is only a matter of time. The way we choose to act now will determine how prepared we will be in the future. I hope that the report prepared by Mr Androulakis will receive your wide support.