Eligible actions linked to equipment and transport resources
Article 23
1. The following actions shall be eligible for financial assistance in order to allow access to equipment and transport resources under the Union Mechanism: (a) providing and sharing information on equipment and transport resources that Member States decide to make available, with a view to facilitating the pooling of such equipment or transport resources; (b) assisting Member States to identify, and facilitating their access to, transport resources that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market; (c) assisting Member States to identify equipment that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market; and (d) financing transport resources necessary for ensuring a rapid response to disasters. Such actions shall be eligible for financial support only if the following criteria are met: (i) a request for assistance has been made under the Union Mechanism in accordance with Articles 15 and 16; (ii) the additional transport resources are necessary for ensuring the effectiveness of disaster response under the Union Mechanism; (iii) the assistance corresponds to the needs identified by the ERCC and is delivered in accordance with the recommendations given by the ERCC on the technical specifications, quality, timing and modalities for delivery; (iv) the assistance has been accepted by a requesting country, directly or through the United Nations or its agencies, or a relevant international organisation, under the Union Mechanism; and (v) the assistance complements, for disasters in third countries, any overall Union humanitarian response. 2. The amount of Union financial support for transport resources shall not exceed 55 % of the total eligible cost. 3. The Union financial support for transport may, in addition, cover a maximum of 85 % of the total eligible cost in the following situations: (a) the costs relate to the transport of the capacities pre-committed to the voluntary pool in accordance with Article 11; or (b) the assistance is necessary to address a critical need and the assistance is not, or not sufficiently, available in the voluntary pool. 4. The Union financial support for transport resources may, in addition, cover a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible cost described under points (i), (ii) and (iii) if this is necessary to make the pooling of Member States' assistance operationally effective and if the costs relate to one of the following: (i) the short-term rental of warehousing capacity to temporarily store the assistance from Member States with a view to facilitating their coordinated transport; (ii) the repackaging of Member States' assistance to make maximum use of available transport capacities or to meet specific operational requirements; or (iii) the local transport of pooled assistance with a view to ensuring a coordinated delivery at the final destination in the requesting country. The Union financial support under this paragraph shall not exceed EUR 75 000 in current prices for each activation of the Union Mechanism. In exceptional cases, that ceiling may, by means of implementing acts, be exceeded. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 33(2). 5. In case of pooling of transport operations involving several Member States, a Member State may take the lead in requesting Union financial support for the entire operation. 6. When a Member State requests the Commission to contract transport services, the Commission shall request partial reimbursement of the costs according to the funding rates set out in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. 7. The following costs shall be eligible for Union financial support for transport resources under this Article: all costs relating to the movement of transport resources, including the costs of all services, fees, logistical and handling costs, fuel and possible accommodation costs as well as other indirect costs such as taxes, duties in general and transit costs.