However, making mutual support on the ground effective and targeted requires close consultation and coordination. To this end, the EU Commission and the member states make tools available which they have tested collectively.

European Union Civil Protection Mechanism

EU member states cooperate mainly through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, also known as the Union Mechanism. The mechanism is governed by an EU decision.

Why did the EU adopt a decision rather than a directive or a regulation to deal with this important matter? Simply because the EU does not have legislative competence for civil protection. Nevertheless, the EU can support and coordinate the member states’ civil protection measures. The Union Mechanism is implemented by the member states, which make their experts, equipment and teams available for relief missions both inside and outside EU territory.

Civil protection tasks of the EU

The European Commission specifically supports the coordination of relief missions. It also fosters a culture of prevention and provides – on a limited scale – funding support, for example, for transport costs.

Regular joint exercises and ongoing experience-sharing help to test the skills and operational resources of national experts. This is the only way of ensuring that assistance can be provided quickly and efficiently in the event of a disaster.

Always there in an emergency: The EU Situation Centre

At the heart of the Union Mechanism is a situation centre which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week: The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

The centre registers and handles all large-scale emergencies. It receives, examines and forwards requests for and offers of assistance. It coordinates and organises transports, and it supports operations by providing geospatial data from the European earth observation programme Copernicus.

Here you can find information on how exactly the Union Mechanism works and on the European Union’s other tasks in the field of civil protection.

Exchange and coordination within the Council of the European Union

In the Council of the European Union, responsibility for civil protection lies with the justice and home affairs ministers. Furthermore, the directors-general responsible for civil protection in the member states meet once every six months to prepare and adopt strategic and political decisions.

At the working level, the Union Mechanism and its further development are discussed in the Working Party on Civil Protection (PROCIV) and the EU Civil Protection Committee chaired by the Commission, which is responsible for implementing the Union Mechanism. Germany is represented on these bodies by Directorate-General KM – Crisis Management and Civil Protection at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI), with the close involvement of the federal states.