Civil protection legal texts

State of play

There are two main pieces of legislation that cover European civil protection, these being Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom establishing a Community Civil Protection Mechanism (recast) and Council Decision establishing a Civil Protection Financial Instrument (2007/162/EC, Euratom). Two Commission Decisions were issued soon after the adoption of these two main pillars of civil protection legislation, each having a specific purpose within the meaning of the two Council Decisions. One of these Decisions deals with laying down implementing rules for transport; the other one provides for the implementation of the modules concept.

The Community Civil Protection Mechanism and the Civil Protection Financial Instrument together cover three of the main aspects of the disaster management cycle – prevention, preparedness and response. The Mechanism itself covers response and some preparedness actions, whereas the Financial Instrument enables actions in all three fields. The two pieces of legislation are moreover complementary as the Financial Instrument finances the Mechanism.

There are of course other legal texts which are not yet legislative pieces but contain proposals or observations which will have a bearing on civil protection. These include the Commission Communication on Reinforcing the Union's Disaster Response Capacity, the Communication on strengthening Early Warning Systems in Europe; and by the end of 2008 a document that will encompass a comprehensive prevention initiative.

As both of the Council Decisions were adopted in 2007, the current framework is a relatively new one. It however builds upon several years of previous legal texts

Historical background

There were two other legals text that were the direct precursors to the current framework. The first dates back to 1999 establishing the Community Action Programme in the field of civil protection. A first two-year Action Programme (1998-1999) was followed by a five-year Action Programme (2000-2004). This was extended till 2006 through Council Decision of 20 December 2004.

The second major legal text was Council Decision of 23 October 2001 establishing the original Mechanism, A later Commission Decision of 29 December 2003 laid down the rules for the implementation of the Community Mechanism, defining its duties and the functioning of the various tools made use of in the Mechanism.

The tsunami that hit South Asia in December 2004 however beckoned a major overhaul of system as a whole. Both the Council and the European Parliament called on the Commission to explore areas of improvements to the Mechanism. This resulted in a series of Commission Communications aiming at developing a more robust European civil protection capacity, enabling the Union to react more rapidly and effectively to any type of disaster in the future. As a result, the Commission tabled a recast of Council Decision (2001/792/EC) on 27 January 2006 on 27 January 2006 intended to reshape the Mechanism. Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom was mainly based on this Communication.

The Commission also adopted a Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Rapid Response and Preparedness Instrument for major emergencies on 20 April 2005. This proposal provided the future legal framework for the financing of civil protection operations. The Commission proposed a major increase in the future financing for European civil protection actions, with annual amounts ranging from €16 million in 2007 to €30 million in 2013. In doing so, the Commission recognised the importance of immediate civil protection assistance as a tangible expression of European solidarity in the event of major emergencies. Renamed the Civil protection financial instrument this legislation was adopted on 5 March 2007.

The very foundations of civil protection co-operation at a Community level go back as far as May 1985 in the May ministerial meeting (Rome). Six resolutions were consequently adopted over the following 9 years. The results of these resolutions were a number of operational instruments covering both preparedness and response. Activities were organised on the basis of the subsidiarity principle laid down in the Maastricht Treaty. Of importance is the Resolution of 8 July 1991 on improving mutual aid between Member States in the event of technological disasters.

The Commission Communication of 11 June 2002 described progress achieved in preparedness for emergencies, amongst others the set-up of a mutual consultation mechanism to deal with any crisis involving bioterrorist threats. Furthermore a joint Commission - pharmaceutical industry task force was launched, that drew up an inventory of the availability and capacities of production, stockpiles and distribution of serums, vaccines and antibiotics likely to be used to counter any bacteriological attack.

For more texts from the Council and the European Parliament, please visit their respective websites.

Civil protection in other policy areas

Civil protection of course ties in with many other policy initiatives. The link with climate change is inevitable, while chemical accidents and marine pollution incidents have triggered the Mechanism into action. Community initiatives on forestry, soil, water and telecommunications also have links with civil protection. This list is not exhaustive.