The Community Civil Protection Action Programme
Action Programme for Civil Protection
The Community action programme in the field of civil protection
(1999/847/EC
OJ L327/53),
adopted in 1999 and ending in 2006 (2005/12/EC
OJ L6/7),
is intended to support and supplement Member States’
efforts at national, regional and local levels by implementing
actions for the protection of persons, property and environment
in the event of natural and technological disasters. It also
intends to implement actions that facilitate cooperation,
exchange of experience and mutual assistance between Member
States.
The Programme covers initiatives dealing with prevention,
preparedness and response to disasters, as well as information
and awareness-raising activities. In addition, specific thematic
priorities/actions are set every year within this overall
context, in the framework of annual calls for proposals.
The Programme provides financial support - in the form of
grants - for activities such as major projects of general
interest for several Member States, workshops, conferences,
as well as information and other support actions (see annex
to decision Action Programme 1999/847/EC OJ L327/53). According
to the Programme these activities should give a contribution
to:
(a) preventing the risks and damage to persons, property
and in so doing environment, in the event of natural and technological
disasters;
(b) increasing the degree of preparedness of those involved
in civil protection in the Member States, in order to increase
their ability to respond to an emergency;
(c) detecting and studying causes of disasters;
(d) improving the means and methods of forecasting, techniques
and methods of response and immediate aftercare after emergencies;
(e) public information, education and awareness, so as to
help citizens to protect themselves more effectively.
Ongoing Call for Proposals
Proposed priority thematic areas for actions to be implemented
in 2006 in the framework of the Community action programme
in the field of civil protection
The responsible Management Committee issued a favourable
opinion on a proposal for a draft rolling plan (2005-2006)
to implement the Community action programme in the field of
civil protection.
The rolling plan, which is due to be adopted by the European
Commission in the next few weeks, contains a draft list of
thematic priority areas for the actions to be launched in
2006. Once the rolling plan is adopted, the Commission will
publish a Call for proposals based on the final adopted list
of thematic areas
The table below is an excerpt from the proposed draft rolling
plan. It shows the proposed priority areas for 2006. Please
note that this is a draft proposal that may still be subject
to changes until adoption.
Title |
Objective |
1 |
Information to the public |
A major project and/or a workshop to identify best approaches
intended to raise citizens’ awareness and information
on safety behaviours in case of major risks. |
2 |
Maximisation at EU level of lessons learnt following
Civil Protection emergencies in areas involving highly
confidential information (e.g. terrorist attacks) |
A EU-restricted workshop on how to maximise, at EU level,
the exchange of information, experience and lessons
learnt following Civil Protection emergencies involving
classified information - such as terrorist attacks -
while fully respecting the confidentiality obligations.
The workshop should involve the responsible authorities
of the Member States. |
3 |
Psycho-social aftercare |
A major project and/or a workshop involving national
psychosocial after-care providers from various Member
States/participating countries, focussing on one or
more of the following aspects : a) a general exchange
of knowledge, experience and good practice on psycho-social
aftercare following major emergencies; b) psycho-social
after-care for rescuers; b) dealing with multinational
groups of victims. |
4 |
Risk assessment/ Risk management |
A major project and/or workshop on risk assessment and/or
risk management methodologies in at least 3 major risk
areas of common concern to at least 3 different countries.
The project should take into account the current scientific
knowledge and state of the art. |
5 |
Safety of specific vulnerable groups |
A major project and/or a workshop on best practice regarding
the safety of vulnerable groups against major emergencies,
such as severe climatic conditions due to hydro-meteorological
events. |
6 |
Assessment methodologies |
A major project on the development of assessment methodologies
to be used in the context of various types of major
emergencies. The project should take into account existing
guidelines and aim at the drafting of operational recommendations.
|
7 |
Follow-up of completed projects or workshops |
In view of the winding up of the Action Programme, one-off
follow-up actions for completed projects or workshops
(in compliance with § C.2 of the Annex to Decision Nr
1999/847), concerning all Member States or a significant
number of them. The proposed actions should preferably
cover one of the following areas : information to the
public, psycho-social aftercare, disaster medicine,
general contingency planning. |
8 |
Fire prevention and safety measures |
A major project and/or a workshop for the exchange of
best practice between Member States on the implementation
of fire prevention and safety measures. |
The general notice for the call for proposals within the
framework of the Community action programme in the field of
civil protection is published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities. The 2006 call for
proposals will be published shortly. The detailed criteria
for applying for funding under this call, the Grant application
guide 2006 and the Grant application forms 2006 will also
be available shortly.
The Action Programme is open to any legal person (public
or private) established in the following countries: one of
the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The
Candidate Countries may participate in the proposed actions
at their own costs.
Follow-up to the Action Programme
2006 was the last year for the financing of actions within
the framework of the Community action programme in the field
of civil protection as this instrument expired on 31 December
2006.
The Commission intends to put in place other or renewed Community
instruments for civil protection within the new EU Financial
Perspectives for the 2007-2013.
In particular, the Commission has submitted two legislative
proposals: A proposal for a Council Regulation establishing
a Rapid Response and Preparedness Instrument for major emergencies
(COM (2005) 113 final of 6 April 2005) and a Commission proposal
for recast of Council Decision 2001/792/EC COM (2006) 29 of
26 January 2006. For more information on these two proposals
click here.
Information Day
Once a year an Information Day is organised for the Civil
Protection Action Programme, in order to provide applicants
with useful information on how to prepare proposals before
the next call. The
Information Day for the 2006 Call for Proposals took place
27 January 2006 in Brussels.
Download the agenda
and presentations distributed during the Information day.
|