On 10 December 2013, the European Parliament adopted new legislation on the EU Civil Protection Mechanism paving, by doing so, the way for stronger cooperation in responding to disasters. The revised legislation on the EU Civil Protection Mechanism contains new actions to be undertaken in relation to disaster risk reduction and the scope of building a culture of prevention, promoting better preparedness and planning, closer cooperation on disaster prevention and more coordinated and faster response.
"The revised legislative proposal includes measures that will help us prepare better for the upcoming disasters. Successful disaster management is first and foremost about providing security to our citizens", said Kristalina Georgieva, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
For these purposes, Member States have agreed to share a summary of their risk assessments and best practices, as well as to help each other identify gaps and to refine their risk management planning, in order to reduce disaster risk.
"The adoption of the legislation by the European Parliament of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism is anchoring disaster risk reduction actions in the EU member states towards a more disaster resilient Europe", said Ms. Margareta Wahlström, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Moreover, in order to enable more effective pre-planning, immediate deployment, and coordinated interventions, it will be establish a voluntary pool of Member States' response capacities and experts on stand-by with partial EU funding support. The revised EU Civil Protection Mechanism is set to come into force at the beginning of 2014.
