European Union
Civil Protection refers to all activities aimed at protecting citizens' lives and property against natural, technological and environmental disasters and at mitigating their impact at European level and beyond, complementing national policies (Principle of Subsidiarity).
Historically, the European Commission first took action in the field of Civil Protection in 1985, establishing the Civil Protection Service Unit under the Directorate-General for the Environment.
In 1987, a resolution of the Council of the European Union (EU) established the Permanent Network of National Correspondents (PNNC) to promote cooperation between Member States on Civil Protection issues. The network consisted of representatives of the services of the national administrations who were responsible for Civil Protection issues and served as an instrument for exchanging information and examining various initiatives in the field of Civil Protection.
In 1997 the Council of the European Union approved the first action programme for Civil Protection (1998 - 1999). This first action programme was followed by a second and more extensive 5-year programme (2000 - 2004), which was extended to the end of 2006.
Since February 2010, within the framework of the work of the new - at the time- European Commission 2009-2014, Civil Protection was transferred to the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid, which is currently referred to as "European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations" (DG ECHO).
An important initiative at European level was the establishment, in 2001, of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. In relation to the implementation of the Mechanism, the European Commission is assisted by a committee of representatives of the Member States (Civil Protection Committee).
Providing and Receiving International Assistance
National Representation
The GSCP represents the country in the EU on Civil Protection issues and for this reason participates in the Working Party on Civil Protection (PROCIV) of the Council of the EU. It also has representatives in the Permanent Network of National Correspondents in the Civil Protection Committee and in committees that aim to support the work of the European Commission.
The Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon, in force since the end of 2009, has created new spheres of competence in which the European Union can intervene. Article 6 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU provides for the competence of the Union to carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States, including Civil Protection.
Article 196 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU requires the Union to encourage cooperation between Member States in order to improve the effectiveness of systems for the prevention and protection against natural or man-made disasters.
More specifically, the Union's actions should:
a. Support and complement Member States' actions at national, regional and local level in risk prevention, in preparing civil protection personnel and in responding to natural or man-made disasters within the Union.
b. Promote swift and effective operational cooperation in the Union between national civil protection authorities
c. Promote consistency in international civil-protection work.
According to Article 222 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU ('Solidarity Clause'), the Union and the Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of natural or man-made disaster. In such a case, at the request of the political authorities of the affected Member State, the Union shall mobilise all the instruments at its disposal to assist the Member State.
Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)
Whenever there is a disaster or humanitarian emergency, the EU provides assistance to the affected countries, pursuant to the fundamental principles of humanitarian aid: humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.
EU humanitarian action also incorporates the principle of solidarity, as set out in the Treaty of Lisbon, which stipulates that the EU will provide assistance, relief and protection to victims of natural and man-made disasters and encourage cooperation between Member States to this end (Treaty of Lisbon, Articles 196 and 214).
Civil Protection and humanitarian aid are complementary. In the case of humanitarian aid, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (DG ECHO) – together with EU Member States – is one of the leading donors of humanitarian aid in the world. In terms of Civil Protection, the EU takes on a supporting role by coordinating voluntary in-kind contributions from countries participating in the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
DG ECHO has been assisting people in need since 1992. Its annual humanitarian budget exceeds €1 billion and helps millions of people around the world every year.
More information: https://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en
The Union Civil Protection Mechanism
The Union Civil Protection Mechanism provides a framework for cooperation and assistance in cases of major emergencies inside and outside the Union. The legislative framework was established by the Council Decision of 23rd October 2001, establishing a Union mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions (2001/792/EC, Euratom).
In subsequent years, the original Decision was successively amended by the Council Decision of 8th November 2007, establishing a Community Civil Protection Mechanism (rephrasing) (2007/779/EC, Euratom) and Decision 1313/2013/EU of 17th December 2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
The Mechanism can be activated in cases of natural and man-made disasters, acts of terrorism and technological, radiological or environmental accidents, including accidental marine pollution, during peacetime.
Any country affected by major disasters can request assistance, as well as the mobilisation of operational assets which have been voluntarily provided to the EU by the Mechanism countries. 37 countries currently participate in the Mechanism: the 27 Member States of the Union, Iceland and Norway from the EEA (European Economic Area) countries, as well as Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Moldova and Ukraine.
The GSCP of the MCCCP actively participates in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and is connected through the dedicated classified "CECIS" electronic platform to the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) of the European Commission (https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/emergency-response-coordination-centre-ercc_en).
It is noted that our country participates with both Civil Protection modules (such as search and rescue teams, forest fire response units, medical units, etc.) and experts, whereas it also participates in exercises of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
EXPERTS OF THE UNION CIVIL PROTECTION MECHANISM
The GSCP of the MCCCP is responsible for the participation of personnel from Greek agencies in the various seminars of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, with the aim of training experts, both members of the Modules and technical experts, capable of deployment in the field if required through a specific European training program.
Providing and receiving international aid
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection is exclusively responsible for submitting requests for international assistance to our country. State services can submit requests for assistance from other Authorities, Services and Agencies in Greece or abroad in order to deal with any form of disaster exclusively through the GSCP.
The GSCP's policy for handling requests of either Greek authorities or other states, for assistance with assets and human resources in order to address major natural and technological disasters, concerns the immediate response and coordination of the involved bodies. The aim is to effectively manage international assistance.
The European Mechanism and International Assistance Unit (Unit4-EUCPM/rescEU) of the National Coordination Centre for Operations and Crisis Management (E.S.K.E.DI.K.), is responsible for the participation of E.S.K.E.DI.K. in the mechanisms for activating similar centres in other countries and activating the necessary procedures in cases of sending or receiving international assistance, within the framework of the European Civil Protection Mechanism (Article 36, para. 7(d) of Law 4662/2020).
Since 2001, Greece has responded to more than 70 requests for assistance through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and has requested assistance 17 times. In particular, as of 2020 and to this date, our country has responded to 58 requests for assistance and has requested assistance 4 times through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
Civil Protection Capacities of Greece in the framework of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism
1. European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP)
It is a “voluntary pool of Member States' pre-committed capacities” comprising “Civil Protection Modules, other response capacities and experts” with defined quality standards. Past weaknesses have thus been overcome and there is now a pre-planned, pre-agreed and predictable system for identifying available resources.
On the basis of identified risks, the Commission has the possibility to identify capacity gaps and examine whether Member States have them available, encouraging them to include them in the European Civil Protection Pool.
Greek Civil Protection Modules - EU MODULES:
- Ground Forest Fire Fighting [Athens. EU GR-GFFF 1-ATH]
- Aerial Forest Fire Fighting module using Airplanes (2 CL-415, Hellenic Air Force General Staff) [ECPP-AFFF-2-GR]
Furthermore, our country has received funding (Adaptation Grants) at a rate of 75% from the EU, for the upgrade of the following Modules, which after a certification process are going to be included in the European Civil Protection Pool
- Emergency Medical Team (EKAV) [EMT1]
- Ground Forest Fire Response Unit with vehicles, Athens (Fire Service) [GFFFV-ATH]
- Ground Forest Fire Response Unit with vehicles, Thessaloniki (Fire Service) [GFFFV-THESS]
- Detection and Sampling of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Substances (Fire Service) [CBRNDET]
2. rescEU capacities (Article 12, Decision No. (EU) No 1313/2013/EU)
rescEU capacities were established by Decision No 2019/420/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of 13th March 2019 amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism. It is a common pool of EU disaster response assets as a last resort (“safety net”).
rescEU capacity building by Member States is 100% EU-financed, ensuring that such capacities are geographically dispersed across the EU. The activation decision requires close coordination between the ERCC, the host State, the rescEU capacity and the State requesting assistance.
rescEU transition – Aerial Forest Firefighting capacities
The transitional rescEU (Article 35, Decision No 1313/2013/EU) in effect until 1st January 2025, was established due to the inability of promptly finding aerial forest firefighting equipment on the market. Member States may include their existing national assets into the transitional rescEU as a temporary solution until the establishment of the rescEU permanent aerial forest firefighting fleet.
National assets under the transitional rescEU are financed by the EU for 75% of the costs necessary to ensure their availability. Where domestic emergencies, force majeure or, in exceptional cases, serious reasons prevent such capacities from being made available for a specific disaster, the Member State shall inform the Commission as soon as possible, referencing Article 35.
Information material on rescEU can be found below:
https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/resceu_en
Greek Capacities included in rescEU
a. Transitional rescEU - Aerial forest firefighting capacities
• One pair of Canadair CL-415 aircraft
• One pair of amphibious aircraft, Air-tractor AT802F
• A heavy-duty helicopter, Erickson S-64
b. rescEU
• Medical Stockpile
Medical stockpile capacity, consisting of personal protective equipment (FFP2, FFP3 masks, high and medium protection overalls, shoe covers, goggles and protective gloves) developed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The cost of creating the capacity was €55.000.000,00 and was fully funded by the European Union. Much of the stock has already been allocated, since the rescEU medical stockpile capacity has been activated 11 times to date.
This capacity will soon be enriched with additional materials of a total value of € 8,013,000.00 (addition of infusion pumps, laboratory equipment, vaccine transport equipment and protective glasses), to address serious cross-border threats to health, 100% funded by the European Union.
• Greece will be the first Member State to acquire, with 100% EU-financing, 2 new DHC-515 forest firefighting aircrafts that will join the respective permanent fleet of rescEU.
Additional Greek capacities registered on the CECIS e-platform (other than the European Civil Protection Pool and rescEU):
• Advanced medical post GR/AMP/1 (National Emergency Health Care Unit)]
• Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear Detection & Sampling Unit GR/CBRNDET/1 (Greek Atomic Energy Commission)]
• Ground Forest Fire Fighting Unit, Thessaloniki (Ground Forest Fire Fighting – Thessaloniki. GR/GFFF/2 THESS]
• Ground Forest Fire Fighting module with Vehicles. GR/GFFV/ATH]
• Medical Aerial Evacuation of Disaster Victims. GR/MEVAC/1 (National Emergency Health Care Unit and Hellenic Air Force)]
• Medium Urban Search and Rescue - Athens GR/MUSAR/1_ATH (Hellenic Fire Corps, National Emergency Health Care Unit)]
• Medium Urban Search and Rescue – Thessaloniki GR/MUSAR/2_THESS (Hellenic Fire Corps, National Emergency Health Care Unit)]
The Greek Teams / Modules participate in exercises of the Mechanism (EU MODEX) and some of them have been deployed in real incidents that occurred inside and outside Europe (e.g. forest fires in Cyprus, Israel, earthquakes in Iran, Albania and Turkey). The Greek Search and Rescue Modules follow the INSARAG guidelines during operations and trainings.
"Knowledge Network" – Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network
The Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network is a tool of the Mechanism and its community and was created to enhance the effectiveness of Civil Protection training and exercises, promote innovation and dialogue and reinforce cooperation between Member States' national Civil Protection authorities.
"Exchange of Experts" – Expert Exchange Program
The "Exchange of Experts" programme is part of the training programmes of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, offering the opportunity to connect the Mechanism's Experts across borders with their counterparts in other states, thus contributing to the expansion of operational knowledge and skills required in Civil Protection operations.
Experts can apply for the Programme with the consent of the National Training Coordinator (NTC), having the opportunity to follow and draw experience from the approaches of the 52 national Civil Protection systems participating in the Programme. The valuable operational experience formed contributes to the strengthening of the team and the Service to which they belong.
Prepositioning Programme for Forest Firefighting Units
The Prepositioning Programme was co-organized for the first time in our country in the summer of 2022 by the European Commission and Greece, with the participation of a total of 203 firefighters from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Norway, Romania and Finland, who were pre-positioned in Athens, Larissa and Tripoli.
The Programme was organised in its first pilot form through the Exchange of Experts Programme offering multiple benefits for both Greece - as host country- and the participating countries, strictly in line with the key principles and objectives of the Mechanism:
• Increasing preparedness levels
• Exchanging expertise, know-how and best practices
• Improving cross-border cooperation
• Developing professional networking and common terminology.
Civil Protection Exercises
The Civil Protection Exercises of the Mechanism provide the appropriate framework for enhancing disaster prevention, preparedness and response. Civil Protection Exercises seek to ensure compatibility and complementarity between intervention teams deployed in missions through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, as well as to improve the capacities of the Experts of the Civil Protection System of Europe.
EU MODEX
EU MODEX Exercises examine the coordination, interoperability, self-sufficiency, standard operating procedures and security protocols of participating Response Capacities.
EU MODEX Exercises are also used for the certification of Modules and other Response Capacities in order for them to be included in the European Civil Protection Pool.
- Tabletop Exercises of Modules: They are based on an exercise scenario and focus on strategic decision making and administrative preparation for an international deployment.
- Field Exercises of Modules: They focus on operational aspects during the different phases of an international Mission. The scenarios of the Exercises concern floods, forest fires, CBRN, earthquakes and medical needs.
EU legal framework
• "Regulation (EU) 2021/836 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20th May 2021 amending Decision No 1313/20213 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32021R0836
• “Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/88 of 26th January 2021 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/570 as regards rescEU capacities in the area of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents”https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32021D0088
• “Council Regulation (EU) 2020/521 of 14th April 2020 activating the emergency support under Regulation (EU) 2016/369 and amending its provisions taking into account the COVID-19 outbreak” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32020R0521
• “Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/414 of 19th March 2020 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/570 as regards medical stockpiling rescEU capacities” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32020D0414
• “Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1930 of 18th November 2019 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/570 as regards rescEU capacities” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019D1930
• “Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1310 of 31 July 2019 laying down rules on the operation of the European Civil Protection Pool and rescEU” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019D1310
• “Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/570 of 8th April 2019 laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards rescEU capacities and amending Commission Implementing Decision 2014/762/EU” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019D0570
• “Decision (EU) 2019/420 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13th March 2019 amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?qid=1553088553036&uri=CELEX:32019D0420
• “Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/142 of 15th January 2018 amending Implementing Decision 2014/762/EU laying down rules for the application of Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EL/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32018D0142
• Commission Implementing Decision of 2014/762/EU of 16th October 2014 laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism and repealing Commission Decisions 2004/277/EC, Euratom and 2007/606/EC, Euratom.
• Decision 1313/2013/EU of 17th December 2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Civil Protection Mechanism
• Commission Decision of 29th July 2010 amending Commission Decision 2004/277/EC, Euratom as regards rules for the implementation of Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom establishing a Community Civil Protection Mechanism (2010 /481/EU, Euratom)
• Commission Decision of 20th December 2007 amending Decision No 2004/277/EC, Euratom as regards rules for the implementation of Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom establishing a Community civil protection mechanism (2008/73/EC, Euratom)
• Council Decision of 8th November 2007 establishing a Community Civil Protection Mechanism (recast). (2007/779/EC, Euratom)
• Commission Decision of 8th August 2007 laying down rules for the implementation of the provisions on transport in Council Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom establishing a Civil Protection Financial Instrument (2007 /606/EC, Euratom)
• Council Decision of 5th March 2007 establishing a Civil Protection Financial Instrument (2007/162/EC, Euratom)
• Commission Decision of 29th December 2003 laying down rules for the implementation of Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom establishing a Community mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions (2004/277/EC, Euratom)
• Council Decision of 23rd October 2001 establishing a Community mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions (2001 /792/EC, Euratom)
Co-funded European Programmes
The mission of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection is to participate in the planning, supervision, implementation and monitoring of international and European programmes within its remit, aiming at the overall improvement of the level of protection of citizens from disasters, the mitigation of disaster risk and the contribution to the sustainable development of the country.
Through the co-funded European Programmes, the participation of Greek Modules and Experts in exercises of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism is also achieved, aiming at their training and operational readiness at the maximum level, so that they can respond professionally to both domestic and international disasters.
The ongoing projects in which GSCP is participating are:
COVALEX - Community of Valued Experts in Hydrometeorological and Technological Multi-hazards
ROSES - Cross Border Risk Awareness in Western Balkans
Indicative Programmes in which Greece participated in previous years:
BALANCE - Large Scale Earthquake Management at Western Balkans through Joint Cross Border Cooperation Activities
PRINCE- Preparedness Response for CBRNE INCidEnts
TaFF - Tackling consequences of extreme rainfalls and FlashFloods
