Civil Protection is a major component in the organisation of
any modern society, which faces the daily challenge of maintaining
and improving the level of safety and protection of its citizens.
Even if there is no doubt that the basic responsibility for taking
civil protection measures must remain with the Member States,
it is also a collective responsibility, falling partly on the
Community. European citizens do expect Community actions in this
regard and the European Parliament reflects regularly and frequently
these expectations, which have increased following the extraordinary
line of natural and technological disasters that occurred in Europe
over the last years, not to mention the population awareness of
the new asymmetric threat raised by the 11th September 2001 event.
Nowadays, a stronger Community action in the field of Civil Protection
appears to be easily attainable. The European Convention has introduced
in the new Constitutional Treaty an article (art. 16) that places
civil protection among the areas of “supporting, co-ordinating
and complementary” Community action. Another article (art.
184) is dedicated to civil protection operational arrangements.
Prevention and risk reduction are priorities of the community
action, as well as public information on risks concerning the
population and self-protection measures in case of disasters or
accidents. Those are indeed the priorities of the 2000-2004 Action
Programme in the field of Civil Protection, created by Council
Decision n. 1999/847/CE. The Commission has announced a Communication
on the subject, which the Italian Presidency is going to follow
up in the most appropriate way.
It is worth noticing that recently, following the mentioned events,
a particular attention was given to intervention in case of disasters
and a “Community Mechanism to facilitate reinforced co-operation
in Civil Protection interventions” was created by Council
Decision 2000/792/CE, Euratom. The Mechanism can be employed in
case of natural and man-made emergencies within the Union as well
in third countries. By the means of the Mechanism it is possible
to quickly dispatch evaluation and co-ordinating teams to the
scene of the disaster, followed by Member States civil protection
assets. A “Civil Protection Response Centre”, located
in Brussels, acts as focal point for the exchange of information.
A dedicated communication system is being realised.
In the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy, Civil Protection
is also one of the four components of the EU civilian crisis management
capability (the others being Police, Rule of Law and Civil Administration)
identified at the Council of Feira in 2000. Civil Protection assets
necessary to build up that capability, as set by the Council of
Goteborg in 2001and due by the end of 2003, have been so far met
and exceeded. Owing to a special agreement between the Council
and the Commission, it is now possible to employ the Community
Civil Protection Mechanism also in crisis response operations.
Following an Italian proposal, prompted by the increasing frequency
and severity of natural and technological disasters occurring
in Europe over the last years, an initiative has been taken aimed
at mobilising additional community resources to improve understanding
of such events and mitigate their consequences.
