Stepping up EU action in civil protection

As European Commissioner for Crisis Management, my mission is to help alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable. And to offer assistance to people whose lives have been greatly affected by disasters. The EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism stands at the centre of this ambition. It serves as a benchmark for European solidarity and for collective action.

Over the years, it has helped many people across all corners of the globe. Yet in recent times, it has also been faced with historic crises and unprecedented challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents one such example. It has had a devastating impact on public health and provoked the worst economic recession in modern history. Individually and collectively, it has touched every one of us in some way. During the earliest phase of the outbreak, when supplies of personal protection equipment were scare, many of our Member States were unable to acquire the necessary materials to address their urgent needs. In spite of calls for support and requests for aid, the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism faced situations where requests for assistance went fully or partially unanswered.

This is not to say that the Mechanism did not work during this time. Over the course of the past year, it has offered vital support in the aftermath of many individual crises and emergencies. When earthquakes struck towns in Albania and Croatia, the Mechanism facilitated the deployment of emergency personnel and critical supplies to communities in both countries. In the aftermath of the explosion in Beirut, the EU delivered vital medical supplies and essential life-saving equipment in solidarity with the people of Lebanon.

But the crises of today rarely occur one at a time. They are often transboundary, affecting several Member States and multiple sectors at any one moment. With climate change-induced disasters rising and security threats continuing to evolve, the EU is becoming increasingly exposed to these types of emergencies. In parallel, growing urbanisation, digitalisation and cross-sectoral interdependence continue to exacerbate existing needs and create new vulnerabilities.

In view of these challenges, we have analysed and discussed what needs to be done better in the future. We all agree that the Mechanism needs to be more agile, more comprehensive, more fit-for-purpose in view of today’s challenges. When the next crisis strikes, and no doubt there will be one, we need to offer an effective response.

That is why we recently proposed a series of targeted changes to the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism. We wish to strengthen it financially, enhance it operationally, and introduce greater flexibility so that the EU can act in support of all Member States. More concretely, we wish to ensure that the Mechanism remains ready to address all transboundary crises – those that affect multiple Member States and several sectors at the same time.

Yesterday, the European Parliament voted in favour of these changes. I thank all members for their support in this endeavour. Over the past eight months, they have worked tirelessly to help shape this vision, together with our Member States. As a result of these efforts and their support, we will now have a concrete set of key actions that will help strengthen the EU’s role in crisis management, and develop a more robust Civil Protection Mechanism.

First, it is essential to enhance disaster risk management and planning. In particular for crises that span across multiple borders and different sectors. We also need to acknowledge that even with the best of efforts, not all disasters can be prevented, or fully anticipated. We therefore need to invest in resilience of our key societal functions. So that they can withstand multiple threats. As a new element of the legislation, the Union disaster resilience goals will offer a strategic steer in achieving such enhanced societal resilience across the EU. By providing a stronger evidence base to inform our prevention and preparedness measures.        

Second, we also need to create additional response capacities that can be directly procured by the European Union. Such capacities could serve as a last resort and provide an additional safety net to support Member States in case of emergencies. With this revision, the EU will be able to procure additional rescEU capacities in the field of transport and logistics, an area that proved to be a bottleneck when the Covid-19 pandemic first emerged across the continent.

Finally, to succeed in creating a stronger Mechanism, we must ensure that sufficient resources are provided as needed. An ambitious financial envelope needs to go hand in hand with a flexible budget that can be topped up whenever required and possible. For this reason, the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism will receive a significant budget increase with more tools to allow for a flexible implementation. In view of this, we will also continue to bolster supplies for our strategic medical stockpile and reinforce capacities to deal with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear disasters.

Together, we are working towards the same goal with the same objectives in mind: To improve Europe’s resilience. To enhance our operational capacity. To flexibly prioritise and react whenever required. As we approach the final stages of this process, I look forward to working with all Member States to ensure that the Union Civil Protection Mechanism continues to serve as the benchmark for European solidarity, and that it remains at the centre of our mission to protect the most vulnerable.