Lisbon, Feb. 9, 2021 (Lusa) - The Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) and representatives of the European Parliament reached an interim agreement on Monday evening on a proposal to strengthen the EU civil protection mechanism.

According to an official communiqué from the Council of the EU, this proposal will enable the Union and the Member States "to be better prepared for natural and man-made disasters" and "respond more rapidly when they occur, including in cases affecting many Member States simultaneously".

The new rules will allow the European Commission "to fill gaps in the area of transport and logistics" and, in urgent cases, "to acquire directly certain additional capabilities from 'rescEU' " which, alongside the capabilities organised by the Member States, will be "fully financed from the EU budget".

The Portuguese presidency of the Council and representatives of the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement after a meeting on Monday evening, chaired by the secretary of state for internal administration, Patricia Gaspar.

In an official note sent to the press today, the ministry of the interior welcomed the preliminary agreement, highlighting Portugal as "one of the countries driving development and strengthening the mechanism".

The minister for internal administration, Eduardo Cabrita, stressed that the mechanism was "an essential instrument of EU solidarity" as it "provided vital support to Member States facing fires, earthquakes and other devastating disasters".

Cabrita said the Covid-19 pandemic has shown "the challenges faced when many member states need support at the same time" and so the new rules will make it possible to be "even better prepared for similar situations in the future".

This agreement also provides for an improvement in prevention and preparedness, where the European Commission, together with the Member States, will define and develop the EU's objectives for disaster resilience in the area of civil protection.

These non-binding objectives will be set in the Commission's recommendations, based on "current and prospective scenarios", including data on past events and climate change impacts on disaster risks.

The interim regulation provides for €1.263 billion in funds for 2021-2027, under the political guidelines provided by the European Council on 21 July 2020, and will include up to €2.056 billion for the implementation of civil protection measures to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, provided for in the Community bloc's rehabilitation instrument.

This figure is three times higher than the 2014-2020 multi-annual budget, reflecting the strengthening of the EU's collective response to disasters, including the recent creation of a capability pool, called 'rescEU', a reinforcement of the European civil protection reserve and improvements in disaster prevention and preparedness.

The percentage of funds to be allocated to prevention, preparedness and response provides a flexible approach which, in case of urgent need, will allow the Commission to reallocate funds for response actions beyond the margin of flexibility.

Created in 2001, the EU civil protection mechanism coordinates the response to natural and man-made disasters at EU level to encourage cooperation between national civil protection authorities, raising public awareness and disaster preparedness, and enabling "rapid, effective and coordinated" assistance to affected populations.

JAYG/ADB // ADB.

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