EU Civil Protection Mechanism
The aim of the EU's activities in the field of civil protection is to support the efforts to prevent disasters and ensure the readiness of civil protection units to act in the event of disasters - at the national, regional and local levels.
When the scale of an emergency overwhelms the response capabilities of a country, it can request assistance via the Mechanism. Through the Mechanism, the European Commission plays a key role in coordinating the response to disasters in Europe and beyond and contributes to at least 75% of the transport and/or operational costs of deployments. Since its inception in 2001, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has responded to over 330 requests for assistance inside and outside the EU.
By pooling together civil protection capacities and capabilities, it allows for a stronger and more coherent collective response. In addition to the EU Member States, there are currently 6 Participating States to the Mechanism (Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkey). In 2015 Serbia became the 33rd participating state in the Mechanism.
In 2019, the EU strengthened all components of its disaster risk management to better protect citizens from disasters. The upgraded EU Civil Protection Mechanism established a new European reserve of additional capacities (the ‘rescEU reserve’) that includes firefighting planes and helicopters, medical evacuation capacities and a medical team trained for setting up a field hospital.
What does it support? The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism offers numerous opportunities for cooperation to the Republic of Serbia, such as: use of European monitoring tools and early warning systems, participation in joint trainings and exercises, exchange of experts, participation in disaster prevention projects, direct communication with other civil protection bodies involved in response to emergencies, exchange of information and best practices, coordinated operations of the EU to mitigate and eliminate consequences, co-financing the transport of teams and other assistance.
Who can apply? Any country in the world, but also the United Nations and its agencies or a relevant international organisation, can call on the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for help.
Read more about EU Civil Protection projects here, in case of floods in Serbia here and migration crises here