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Emergency Response Coordination Centre
The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is hereby established. The ERCC shall ensure 24/7 operational capacity, and serve the Member States and the Commission in pursuit of the objectives of the Union Mechanism.
General preparedness actions of the Commission
The Commission shall carry out the following preparedness actions: (a) manage the ERCC; (b) manage a Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) to enable communication and sharing of information between the ERCC and the Member States' contact points; (c) contribute to the development and better integration of transnational detection and early warning and alert systems of European interest in order to enable a rapid response, and to promote the inter-linkage between national early warning and alert systems and their linkage to the ERCC and the CECIS. Those systems shall take into account and build upon existing and future information, monitoring and detection sources and systems; (d) establish and manage the capability to mobilise and dispatch expert teams, responsible for: (i) assessing the needs that can possibly be addressed under the Union Mechanism in the state requesting assistance, (ii) facilitating, when necessary, the coordination of disaster response assistance on site and liaising with the competent authorities of the state requesting assistance, and (iii) supporting the requesting state with expertise on prevention, preparedness or response actions; (e) establish and maintain the capability to provide logistical support for those expert teams; (f) develop and maintain a network of trained experts of the Member States, who can be available at short notice to assist the ERCC in the monitoring of information and facilitating coordination; (g) facilitate the coordination of the Member States' pre-positioning of disaster response capacities inside the Union; (h) support efforts to improve the inter-operability of modules and other response capacities, taking into account the best practices at the level of the Member States and at international level; (i) take, within its sphere of competence, the necessary actions to facilitate host nation support, including developing and updating, together with Member States, guidelines on host nation support, on the basis of operational experience; (j) support the creation of voluntary peer review assessment programmes for the Member States' preparedness strategies, based on pre-defined criteria, which will enable recommendations to be formulated to strengthen the level of preparedness of the Union; and (k) in close consultation with the Member States, take additional necessary supporting and complementary preparedness action to achieve the objective specified in point (b) of Article 3(1).
General preparedness actions of the Member States
1. Member States shall, on a voluntary basis, work towards developing modules, in particular to meet priority intervention or support needs under the Union Mechanism. Member States shall identify, in advance, modules, other response capacities and experts within their competent services, in particular within their civil protection or other emergency services, which could be made available for intervention upon request through the Union Mechanism. They shall take into account that the composition of modules or other response capacities may depend on the type of disaster and on the disaster-related particular needs. 2. Modules shall be made up of the resources of one or more Member States and shall: (a) be able to perform pre-defined tasks in the areas of response in accordance with established international guidelines and therefore be able to: (i) be dispatched at very short notice following a request for assistance through the ERCC; and (ii) work self-sufficiently and autonomously for a given period of time; (b) be interoperable with other modules; (c) undertake training and exercises in order to meet the interoperability requirement; (d) be placed under the authority of a person who is responsible for the operation of modules; and (e) be able to cooperate with other Union bodies and/or international institutions, in particular the United Nations, as appropriate. 3. The Member States shall, on a voluntary basis, identify, in advance, experts that could be dispatched as members of expert teams, as specified in point (d) of Article 8. 4. The Member States shall consider providing, as required, other response capacities, which could be available from the competent services, or which may be provided by non-governmental organisations and other relevant entities. Other response capacities may comprise resources from one or more Member States and, where appropriate, shall: (a) be able to perform tasks in the areas of response in accordance with established international guidelines and therefore be able to: (i) be dispatched at very short notice following a request for assistance through the ERCC; and (ii) work self-sufficiently and autonomously where necessary for a given period of time; (b) be able to cooperate with other Union bodies and/or international institutions, in particular the United Nations, as appropriate. 5. Member States may, subject to appropriate security safeguards, provide information about relevant military capacities that could be used as a last resort as part of the assistance through the Union Mechanism, such as transport and logistical or medical support. 6. Member States shall provide to the Commission relevant information on the experts, modules and other response capacities that they make available for assistance through the Union Mechanism as referred to in paragraphs 1 to 5 and update this information when necessary. 7. Member States shall designate contact points, as referred to in point (b) of Article 8, and inform the Commission accordingly. 8. Member States shall take the appropriate preparedness actions to facilitate host nation support. 9. Member States, supported by the Commission in accordance with Article 23, shall take the appropriate measures to ensure the timely transport of assistance they offer.
Planning of operations
1. The Commission and Member States shall work together to improve the planning of disaster response operations under the Union Mechanism, including through scenario-building for disaster response, asset mapping and the development of plans for the deployment of response capacities. 2. The Commission and the Member States shall identify and promote synergies between civil protection assistance and humanitarian aid funding provided by the Union and Member States in the planning of response operations for humanitarian crises outside the Union.
European Emergency Response Capacity
1. A European Emergency Response Capacity (EERC) shall be established. It shall consist of a voluntary pool of pre-committed response capacities of the Member States and include modules, other response capacities and experts. 2. On the basis of identified risks, the Commission shall define the types and the number of key response capacities required for the EERC ("capacity goals"). 3. The Commission shall define quality requirements for the response capacities that Member States commit to the EERC. The quality requirements shall be based on established international standards, where such standards already exist. The Member States shall be responsible for ensuring the quality of their response capacities. 4. The Commission shall establish and manage a process for certification and registration of the response capacities that the Member States make available to the EERC. 5. Member States shall on a voluntary basis identify and register the response capacities which they commit to the EERC. The registration of multinational modules provided by two or more Member States shall be undertaken jointly by all the Member States concerned. 6. The response capacities that Member States make available for the EERC shall remain available for national purposes at all times. 7. Response capacities that Member States make available for the EERC shall be available for response operations under the Union Mechanism following a request for assistance through the ERCC. The ultimate decision on their deployment shall be taken by the Member States which registered the response capacity concerned. When domestic emergencies, force majeure or, in exceptional cases, serious reasons prevent a Member State from making those response capacities available in a specific disaster, that Member State shall inform the Commission as soon as possible by referring to this Article. 8. In the event of deployment, Member States' response capacities shall remain under their command and control and can be withdrawn when domestic emergencies, force majeure or, in exceptional cases, serious reasons prevent a Member State from keeping those response capacities available, in consultation with the Commission. The coordination among the different response capacities shall be facilitated where appropriate by the Commission through the ERCC in accordance with Articles 15 and 16. 9. Member States and the Commission shall ensure an appropriate public awareness of the interventions involving the EERC.
Addressing response capacity gaps
1. The Commission shall monitor progress towards the capacity goals set in accordance with Article 11(2) and identify potentially significant response capacity gaps in the EERC. 2. Where potentially significant gaps have been identified, the Commission shall examine whether the necessary capacities are available to the Member States outside the EERC. 3. The Commission shall encourage Member States to address, either individually or through a consortium of Member States cooperating together on common risks, any strategic capacity gaps that have been identified in accordance with paragraph 2. The Commission may support Member States in those activities in accordance with Article 20, points (i) and (j) of Article 21(1) and Article 21(2). 4. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council every two years on the progress made on the achievement of capacity goals and remaining gaps in the EERC.
Training, exercises, lessons learnt and knowledge dissemination
1. The Commission shall within the Union Mechanism carry out the following tasks in the field of training, exercises, lessons learnt and knowledge dissemination: (a) set up and manage a training programme for civil protection and emergency management personnel on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters. The programme shall include joint courses and a system for exchange of experts, whereby individuals may be seconded to other Member States. The training programme shall aim to enhance the coordination, compatibility and complementarity between capacities referred to in Articles 9 and 11, and to improve the competence of experts referred to in points (d) and (f) of Article 8; (b) set up and manage a training network open to training centres for civil protection and emergency management personnel as well as other relevant actors and institutions on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters. The training network shall aim to: (i) enhance all phases of disaster management, taking into account adaptation to and mitigation of climate change; (ii) create synergies among its members through exchange of experience and best practices, relevant research, lessons learnt, courses and workshops, exercises and pilot projects; and (iii) develop guidance on Union and international civil protection training, including training on prevention of, preparedness for and response to disasters; (c) develop a strategic framework setting out the objectives and the role of exercises, a long-term comprehensive plan outlining exercise priorities, as well as set up and manage a programme of exercises; (d) set up and manage a programme of lessons learnt from civil protection actions conducted within the framework of the Union Mechanism including aspects from the entire disaster management cycle, in order to provide a broad basis for learning processes and knowledge development. The programme shall include: (i) monitoring, analysing and evaluating all the relevant civil protection actions within the Union Mechanism; (ii) promoting implementation of lessons learnt in order to obtain an experience-based foundation for the development of activities within the disaster management cycle; and (iii) developing methods and tools for gathering, analysing, promoting and implementing lessons learnt. That programme shall also include, where appropriate, lessons learnt from interventions outside the Union with regard to exploiting links and synergies between assistance provided under the Union Mechanism and humanitarian response; (e) develop guidance on knowledge dissemination and implementation of the different tasks referred to in points (a) to (d) at Member State level; and (f) stimulate and encourage the introduction and use of relevant new technologies for the purpose of the Union Mechanism. 2. When carrying out the tasks set out in paragraph 1, the Commission shall take particular account of the need and interest of Member States facing disaster risks of a similar nature. 3. At the request of a Member State, a third country or the United Nations or its agencies, the Commission may deploy an expert team on site to provide advice on preparedness measures.
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Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.