The European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism

The European Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), established in 2001 by the European Union, enables participating countries (EU and non-EU) to coordinate their assistance in response to a large-scale emergency situation that a country's civil protection cannot handle alone. It can be deployed anywhere in the world.

European Civil Protection Mechanism

International distinctive sign of civil protection.
EU member states   Participating non-EU states
Formation	23 October 2001 (2001-10-23)
Type	Emergency response coordination system
Headquarters	ECHO in Brussels, Belgium
Membership	37 Member States 27 EU members Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden
Budget	€574 million (2014-2020)[1]
Website	civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/eu-civil-protection-mechanism_en

Through awareness-raising, training, exchanges of experts and the organization of simulation exercises, it contributes to preparing for and preventing disasters in the long term.

History

The European Civil Protection Mechanism^[2] (UCPM) was established in 2001, by the Euratom Decision of 23 October 2001^[3], with the objective of providing participating countries in the mechanism with the means to provide mutual assistance or lend assistance to third countries when a disaster occurs.

In 2013, European legislation on civil protection (Decision of 17 December 2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union^[4]) significantly modified the organization of the UCPM and strengthened its role:

• by focusing its activities on disaster prevention and preparedness as well as risk management assessment and planning;
• by establishing the Emergency Response Coordination Centre^[5] (ERCC), which is operational 24/7 and has the capacity for disaster monitoring and coordination of interventions. It works directly with the contact points of the participating states and can respond to multiple requests simultaneously.

Management of the UCPM

The European Commission manages the mechanism through its Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)^[6]. As these two activities often go hand in hand, ECHO's humanitarian mandate was extended to civil protection in 2010 to coordinate the assistance of states participating in the UCPM in the event of a disaster, both in terms of civil security and humanitarian aid.

Mode of operation

This mechanism primarily aims to protect people, but can also cover the environment, property and cultural sites.

When the scale of an emergency situation exceeds national response capacities in civil protection, the UCPM enables the organization of a coordinated intervention through the effective pooling of resources offered by participating states (human, technical and material means). The mechanism can thus avoid duplication of efforts and provide assistance that precisely meets the real needs of the affected country.

Any country in the world, the United Nations and its agencies, and certain international organizations can request assistance through the UCPM.

Currently, thirty-seven states participate in the UCPM^[2]: the twenty-seven member states of the European Union as well as ten other European countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine).

Emergency situations can occur as a result of disasters of natural origin (for example, forest fires, earthquakes, floods or epidemics) or human origin (conflicts, industrial accidents, etc.).

Furthermore, emergency situations related to marine pollution (oil spills, leakage of hazardous products into rivers, etc.) can also trigger the UCPM. In this case, the work is carried out in collaboration with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)^[7].

European Civil Protection Pool

In 2013, to improve the effectiveness of the response of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, both in terms of coordination and reduction of intervention times, a reserve of various resources was established. Medical resources are grouped within the European Medical Corps^[8].

When activated, the transport and deployment costs of the pool's modules are covered up to 75% by the European Commission^[8].

Composition of the ECPP on 18 April 2023^[9]

Type of resource	Number	Providing State(s)
Water rescue with boat	5	Template:Austria Template:Belgium Template:France Template:Czech Republic
High capacity pumping	15	Template:Germany Template:Austria Template:Belgium Template:Finland Template:France Template:Italy Template:Poland Template:Romania Template:Slovakia Template:Slovenia Template:Sweden + one unit common to the Baltic states
Very high capacity pumping	1	The WikiProject banner below should be moved to this article's talk page. If this is a demonstration of the template, please set the parameter |category=no to prevent this page being miscategorised. Netherlands Unassessed Netherlands portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Netherlands, an attempt to create, expand, and improve articles related to the Netherlands on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, visit the project page where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
Water purification	6	Template:Germany Template:Austria Template:Belgium  Denmark Template:France
Flood containment barrier	2	Template:Austria Template:France
Medium Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit	6	Template:Croatia Template:Spain Template:Estonia could refer to: {{Country data Estonia}} {{Estonia Star}} {{Estonia-stub}} {{Estonia topics}} {{User citizen Estonia}} {{User from Estonia}} {{User in Estonia}} {{User interest Estonia}} {{User WP Estonia}} {{WikiProject Estonia}} {{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace. Template:Portugal Template:Romania Template:Turkey
Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit	10	Template:Austria  Denmark Template:France Template:Italy The WikiProject banner below should be moved to this article's talk page. If this is a demonstration of the template, please set the parameter |category=no to prevent this page being miscategorised. Netherlands Unassessed Netherlands portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Netherlands, an attempt to create, expand, and improve articles related to the Netherlands on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, visit the project page where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. Template:Poland Template:Czech Republic Template:Turkey
Structural assessment	1	Template:Italy
Underground Search and Rescue unit	3	Template:Croatia Template:Spain Template:Slovenia
Mountain Search and Rescue unit	1	Template:Spain
Water Search and Rescue unit	1	Template:Spain
Mobile laboratory	1	Template:Germany
Emergency Medical Team	16	Template:Belgium Template:Spain Template:Estonia could refer to: {{Country data Estonia}} {{Estonia Star}} {{Estonia-stub}} {{Estonia topics}} {{User citizen Estonia}} {{User from Estonia}} {{User in Estonia}} {{User interest Estonia}} {{User WP Estonia}} {{WikiProject Estonia}} {{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace. Template:France Template:Greece Template:Italy Template:Norway Template:Poland Template:Portugal Template:Romania Template:Turkey
Medical Air Evacuation unit	2	Template:Romania Template:Slovakia
Maritime Incident Response team	2	Template:France The WikiProject banner below should be moved to this article's talk page. If this is a demonstration of the template, please set the parameter |category=no to prevent this page being miscategorised. Netherlands Unassessed Netherlands portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Netherlands, an attempt to create, expand, and improve articles related to the Netherlands on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, visit the project page where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
Maritime Pollution Response	1	Template:Sweden
Environmental assessment unit	1	The WikiProject banner below should be moved to this article's talk page. If this is a demonstration of the template, please set the parameter |category=no to prevent this page being miscategorised. Netherlands Unassessed Netherlands portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Netherlands, an attempt to create, expand, and improve articles related to the Netherlands on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, visit the project page where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
Firefighting advisory/expertise unit	2	Template:Spain
Forest fire fighting aircraft	2	Template:France Template:Greece
Ground forest fire fighting unit	5	Template:Spain Template:France Template:Greece Template:Portugal
Ground forest fire fighting unit with vehicles	15	Template:Germany Template:Austria Template:Bulgaria Template:Finland Template:France Template:Greece Template:Poland Template:Portugal Template:Romania Template:Slovakia Template:Slovenia
CBRN detection and sampling	9	Template:Germany Template:Austria  Denmark Template:France Template:Greece Template:Italy Template:Portugal Template:Romania
CBRN decontamination	1	Template:Austria
CBRN Search and Rescue	2	Template:Austria Template:Portugal
Technical Assistance and Support Team (TAST)	6	Template:Germany  Denmark Template:Finland Template:Italy The WikiProject banner below should be moved to this article's talk page. If this is a demonstration of the template, please set the parameter |category=no to prevent this page being miscategorised. Netherlands Unassessed Netherlands portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Netherlands, an attempt to create, expand, and improve articles related to the Netherlands on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, visit the project page where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. Template:Sweden
Drone module	3	Template:Spain Template:France
Communication platform	2	Template:France Template:Luxembourg
Shelter module	2	Template:Slovakia Template:Sweden

Examples of intervention situations

• The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa^[10] (2014);
• The floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia^[11] (2014), which was the largest European mobilization in civil protection with the intervention of twenty-three states;
• The conflicts in Eastern Ukraine^[12] (2015);
• The European migrant crisis^[13][14] (2015);
• The earthquake in Nepal^[15][16] (2015);
• The wildfires in June 2017 in Portugal (2017)^[17];
• The wildfires in the summer of 2018 in Sweden (2018).

Assistance provided to affected countries

The assistance is composed of resources provided by the states participating in the UCPM. It includes material assistance, expertise, the dispatch of field teams and intervention modules, as well as the delivery of specific equipment.

In order to assess needs and ensure coordination with local authorities and international organizations, experts can also be sent on site. They can also carry out advisory missions to countries on prevention and preparedness aimed at reducing the impact of disasters.

Funding

The participating states provide the majority of the funding for the UCPM.

The European Commission provides financial support for the general functioning of the ERCC, the sending of expert teams, the co-financing of the logistical transport of means, studies and surveys, the funding of a training and exercise program, and the funding of public awareness and information operations.

For the period 2014-2020^[18], the European budget allocated to the implementation of the UCPM amounts globally to €368.4 million, divided as follows:

• €223.7 million are usable for disaster prevention, preparedness and response purposes within the European Union;
• and the remainder is reserved for similar actions outside the European Union.

This budget is supplemented by additional contributions from countries participating in the UCPM that are not members of the European Union.

Furthermore, when European civil protection assistance is requested by third countries, it is usually accompanied by humanitarian aid.