On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and Union support for health emergency preparedness and response, and repealing Decision No 1313/2013/EU (Union Civil Protection Mechanism)
SEDE-AD-785116
Committee on Security and Defence · Rapporteur: Reinis Pozņaks
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.
The Committee on Security and Defence proposes amendments to the proposed regulation on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and health emergency preparedness. It adds civil-military cooperation, hybrid and armed-attack scenarios, critical infrastructure protection, dual-use capacities and support for volunteers and civil society.¶¶ The amendments require Member States to include armed aggression and hybrid threats in national risk assessments, and set up civil-military preparedness arrangements, joint exercises and a Union civil-military exercise.¶¶¶ They add rescEU capacities for emergency communications and critical infrastructure rapid assessment, and rules on dual-use military capacities, counter-drone measures and sheltering standards.¶¶¶ They also strengthen the role of volunteers, civil society and local communities, and require support for population preparedness, including the initial 72 hours after a disaster.¶¶¶
Committee position. The Committee on Security and Defence proposes amendments to the lead committees' text. It wants the Mechanism to cover armed aggression and hybrid threats, to build civil-military preparedness and dual-use capacities, to protect critical infrastructure and space assets, and to support volunteers and civil society.¶¶
Key points
- Adds conventional and hybrid warfare to the disasters covered, and includes education and care facilities such as schools and shelters in the protection scope.¶
- States that Union-level structures, including the Hub, should support national capacities and not centralise crisis-management competences, which remain with Member States.¶
- Adds crises caused by attacks on Member States to the medical countermeasures recital, and proposes a component stockpile access mechanism for certified SMEs.¶¶¶
- Requires support for volunteers and civil society responders, including legal protection, insurance, recognition of qualifications, training, equipment and exemptions on working time constraints for volunteer firefighters and military reservists.¶¶
- Adds hybrid threats such as cyber-attacks, sabotage, disinformation, unmanned aerial systems and CBRN incidents to the Mechanism's preparedness tasks, with attention to energy, transport, space and communication systems.¶¶
- Calls for a regulatory framework allowing state security bodies to procure and operate Counter-Unmanned Aerial systems, and for Defensive Drone Zones with radar, optical tracking and interception capabilities.¶
- Requires civil-military preparedness arrangements, including a Union-level framework, joint exercises, standardised operating procedures and integration of dual-use military capabilities into national plans and the European Civil Protection Pool.¶¶¶
- Requires national risk assessments and risk management plans to include scenarios of armed aggression and hybrid threats, covering continuity of essential civilian services, mass casualty management, evacuation and civil support to military forces.¶¶
- Adds rescEU capacities for emergency communications infrastructure deployable within 12 hours, and a critical infrastructure rapid assessment and recovery capability with expert teams deployed within 24 hours.¶¶
- Requires Member States to pre-authorise cross-border movement of civil protection assets, personnel and vehicles during disaster response, with standardised templates supported by the ERCC.¶
- Provides that where the Council establishes a Member State is a victim of armed aggression under Article 42(7) TEU, the Mechanism is deemed activated without a formal request, and all relevant rescEU capacities are made available.¶
- Requires the Commission to protect EU classified information, set up a secured exchange system, and ensure geographic equity in pre-positioning medical countermeasures, including for islands and outermost regions.¶¶
Who is affected
- Member States, which must include armed aggression and hybrid threats in risk assessments and set up cross-border pre-authorisation arrangements.¶¶¶
- Civil protection and military authorities, which must cooperate through joint exercises, standardised procedures and dual-use capacity mapping.¶¶¶
- Volunteers, volunteer firefighters and military reservists, who would receive legal protection, insurance, training and working time exemptions.¶¶
- SMEs and dual-use companies, for which entry barriers to grants and actions would be lowered by removing non-critical security requirements.¶
- Border regions, islands, outermost regions and rural or remote areas, whose specific vulnerabilities must be taken into account.¶¶
Figures and deadlines
- 72 hours: the period for which households, communities and local support networks should maintain essential needs and basic self-protection after a disaster.¶¶
- 31 December 2028: deadline for Member States to make a summary available to the Commission, and at least once every 3 years thereafter.¶
- 12 hours: deployment time for rescEU emergency communications infrastructure after a request for assistance.¶
- 24 hours: deployment time for multidisciplinary expert teams assessing critical infrastructure damage.¶
- Every two years: review and update of the confidential registry of dual-use military capacities.¶
- Every three years: adoption and review of civil-military preparedness arrangements.¶
- Up to 100%: level of Union financing for response under the Union Mechanism.¶