Kiri

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 16.7.2025 COM(2025) 548 final 2025/0223 (COD) 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) (Text with EEA relevance) {SEC(2025) 545 final} - {SWD(2025) 545 final} - {SWD(2025) 546 final} EN EN  EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL • Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The proposed Regulation builds on the legal framework established by Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (hereafter ‘the Union Mechanism’) as well as on Regulation (EU) 2021/522 establishing a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health (‘EU4Health Programme’) for the period 2021-2027. It introduces a framework for civil protection and the financing of health emergency preparedness and response with a view of using synergies and supporting an improved coordination across sectors. This aims to improve the overall effectiveness in supporting the prevention, preparation for, and response to natural and human-induced hazards, including serious cross-border threats to health and considering the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of risks and threats the Union faces, as highlighted by the European Council's Conclusions in 20231 and 20242. Over the last years, Europe has been severely challenged by a worsening risk and threat landscape due to an increasingly volatile mix of security, health, climate change and environmental challenges. The sharply increased number of activations of the Union Mechanism indicates that national systems are likely to continue asking for enhanced support in responding to disasters and crises. Therefore, the Union-level coordination mechanism needs to be adequately equipped to act more efficiently and effectively in offering such support, including by strengthening prevention and preparedness. Furthermore, the multifaceted nature of cross-sectoral crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine demands a more comprehensive and integrated approach to crisis management, necessitating close and efficient cooperation between the Union and its Member States to effectively navigate the challenges they present. The current geopolitical context necessitates the strengthening of Europe’s civilian and military preparedness and readiness, as called for in the Preparedness Union Strategy3 and Joint White Paper on European Defence Readiness 20304. Effective crisis management will require close coordination between civilian and military actors to ensure seamless and efficient operations for civil and military efforts. This cooperation is particularly crucial for issues with a strong dual-use dimension, where civilian and military actors rely on shared infrastructures, such as transportation networks and logistics hubs. By working together, civilian and military actors can ensure that their respective efforts are well coordinated and complementary, ultimately enhancing the overall response to the crisis. Therefore, an important objective of the proposal is to ensure that the Regulation can offer more efficient and effective support to such complex, high impact crises5 and its all-hazard, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach it should forge stronger links between civil protection, health, environment, and security making available simplified and more flexible arrangements to effectively and efficiently address complex cross-sectoral and long-lasting crises. 1 EUCO/2023/7 final. 2 EUCO/2023/24 final. 3 JOIN (2025) 130 final. 4 JOIN (2025) 120 final. 5 JOIN/2025/130 final. EN 1 EN  The integration of health emergency preparedness and response measures into this proposal provides an additional layer of protection of EU citizens, ultimately enhancing resilience and safeguarding the population against serious health threats. Health emergencies can have far- reaching impacts beyond the health sector, affecting social stability, environmental balance or critical infrastructure. Health emergency preparedness and response actions will continue to be coordinated within current structures, including the Health Security Committee and the HERA Board. Furthermore, together with related horizontal requirements and other programmes, the proposal supports and promotes measures to anticipate and prevent disasters, contributing to reduce their costs to the Union economy, and minimise their adverse social, economic, and environmental impact on the most vulnerable regions and people including women, children, older persons, refugees, people with a minority racial or ethnic background and persons with disabilities. This will ultimately contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive growth as well as intergenerational fairness. The proposal also makes a significant contribution to simplification, merging into a single text the provisions relating to the functioning of the Union Mechanism and those relating to the financing of its activities, thus simplifying existing procedures. Moreover, by ensuring that investments under the Union Mechanism also strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the Union’s industrial base, it lays the ground for more strategic, reliable and autonomous responses, including, in line with Union law and international commitments, by promoting the use of solutions developed or produced in the Union. The proposal recognises that individuals may experience multiple and intersecting forms of vulnerability and therefore promotes an intersectional approach to disaster risk management to ensure no one is left behind. • Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area This proposal builds on the positive results delivered under the existing framework so far, and intends to correct its shortcomings with reinforced provisions, to continue supporting, coordinating and complementing the action of the Member States in this area. It also builds on the crisis preparedness and response strand of the EU4Health Programme supporting the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on serious cross-border threats to health6, and Regulation (EU) 2022/2372 on a framework of measures for ensuring the supply of crisis- relevant medical countermeasures7 in the event of a public health emergency at Union level, and other initiatives to enhance health emergency preparedness and response. It should ensure synergies with the crisis related mandates of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency, as well as relevant national and international organisations. This aims to ensure that the Union's health emergency preparedness and response are fortified alongside civil protection measures. The proposed Regulation continues to align with existing policies by enhancing preparedness, prevention, and response capabilities among Member States. It upholds the commitment to greater European solidarity and coordinated efforts, building on the strong foundations of past cooperation and initiatives. Furthermore, besides the close alignment with the Preparedness Union Strategy, the EU Stockpiling Strategy8 and a Medical Countermeasures Strategy preparing the Union for the 6 OJ L 314, 6.12.2022, p. 26–63 7 OJ L 314, 6.12.2022, p. 64–78 8 COM/2025/528 final. EN 2 EN  next health crisis9, the Union Mechanism acts in accordance with the EU's Internal Security Strategy10, which aims to ensure a high level of security for Union citizens, and the Joint White Paper on European Defence Readiness 2030 and ReArm Readiness 203011 Plan in support of a stronger European defence posture against external threats. It is also consistent with the Stockpiling and Medical Countermeasures Strategies and supports Union obligations under the European Climate Law12 to ensure continuous progress in enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change. • Consistency with other Union policies Under the preparedness by design approach as outlined under the Preparedness Union Strategy, this proposal is designed to promote synergies with other internal and external policy areas under an integrated approach to disaster risk management across relevant sectors and stakeholders, including EU agencies, Member States, and international organisations, and contributing to the implementation of the Union's disaster risk reduction and management policies and of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Specifically for the external policies, preparedness and resilience of the EU and Member States are increasingly intertwined with those of our partners in the world, who face a similar range of global crises and challenges. Working with our external partners to anticipate, prepare for, prevent and respond to crises is mutually beneficial and fundamental to lower the risk of cascading or spill-over effects for the EU of crises originating elsewhere. In an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment, and to tackle global challenges, this proposal complements actions which are to be undertaken under Global Europe, where the EU and Member States will continue to develop and deepen tailored and mutually beneficial bilateral and plurilateral partnership. The proposal puts particular emphasis on enhancing the Union Mechanism's collaboration with health emergency preparedness and response measures and provision of humanitarian aid. It stresses areas such as public health emergencies; justice and home affairs, including consular assistance and the safeguarding of critical infrastructure; environmental management, with a focus on flood control and preventing major industrial accidents; climate change resilience and preparedness; marine pollution mitigation; external relations and development cooperation, security, defence and space. To maintain coherence and complementarity with other Union financial instruments, the proposal incorporates clear provisions that define the Union Mechanism’s scope, thereby preventing overlaps or any possibility of double funding. In relation to health security, this proposal complements actions on health security preparedness funded by other Union financial instruments aimed at enhancing the Union’s strategic autonomy and access to health innovation, as provided under the proposed Health, Biotech, Agriculture and Bioeconomy Window of the European Competitiveness Fund and its corresponding window under the proposed Framework Programme for Research Horizon Europe. The proposal refers to the Union space systems that are fundamental to strengthening the Union’s crisis preparedness and response capabilities. The Preparedness Union Strategy 9 COM/2025/529 final. 10 COM/2025/148 final. 11 JOIN/2025/120 final. 12 Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’), OJ L 243, 9.7.2021, p. 1–17. EN 3 EN  emphasises that Copernicus, Galileo and the upcoming IRIS² services provide real-time situational awareness, support early warnings and reliable communication when terrestrial networks fail. These capabilities are indispensable when coordinating emergency operations, supporting civil protection, including by ensuring timely access to space-based early warning information to disseminate directly alert messages to the population, and mitigating the impacts of natural and human-induced disasters. 2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY • Legal basis The legal bases of this proposal are Articles 168(5), 196 and 322(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 168(5) TFEU provides a legal basis for incentive measures designed to protect and improve human health and in particular to combat the major cross-border health scourges, measures concerning monitoring, early warning of and combating serious cross-border threats to health. Article 196 TFEU provides a legal basis for Union initiatives to enhance cooperation and collective preparedness among Member States in managing prevention, preparedness and response to natural or human-induced disasters. These legal bases are combined with Article 322(1) TFEU to enable financial flexibility by providing the possibility to carry-over appropriations. • Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence) The Commission has a supporting competence in the area of civil protection. Member States bear the primary responsibility when it comes to preventing, preparing for and responding to disasters. The Union Mechanism was established because major disasters can overwhelm the response capacities of any Member State acting alone while health emergency preparedness and response measures ensure a more robust coordination and cooperation, in particular regarding the availability and access to relevant medical countermeasures against existing and emerging health threats. The provision of well-coordinated and rapid mutual assistance amongst Member States is at its core. The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States acting on their own. Union action in this field involves managing situations with a strong cross-sectoral and trans-boundary dimension, which necessarily require overall coordination and concerted action beyond the national level. In cases of complex transboundary emergencies and crises where the European Union as a whole is affected – such as COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine - a well coordinated collective approach is needed to avoid fragmentation and duplication. The Union can efficiently support Member States in their efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to crises, and continue to promote a culture of prevention and resilience across the EU. The proposal addresses a need that cannot be met by Member States acting alone and provides a clear Union added value. The benefit of EU action includes reducing the loss of human life, environmental, economic, and material damage, allowing Member States to contribute more effectively to EU assistance under the Mechanism and to benefit from improved coordination and cooperation, increasing EN 4 EN  the level of preparedness for large-scale disasters and creating a more coherent disaster risk management policy, and pursuing economies of scale, such as cost-effective logistics and transport, coherent and effective response through the voluntary pool of capacities, and better use of scarce resources by sharing EU-funded capacities. It supports protecting also EU financial interest by promoting measures that increase structural preparedness and resilience and thus reduce losses of EU-financed assets in disasters. Similar benefits can be achieved by enhancing cooperation and coordination in preparedness and response to threats to health. Virus do not know borders, and as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, only coordinated action at EU level ensured the development, manufacturing and equitable distribution of vaccines and other relevant medical countermeasures to all EU Member States. • Proportionality In accordance with the principle of proportionality, this proposal does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives. The principle of proportionality has guided the Commission's design of the proposed Regulation, which aims to identify and enable synergies with other programmes and to strengthen collaboration with the Member States in defining priorities for it. The proposal is proportionate and seeks to increase participation of Member States in the actions it supports by lowering as much as possible the barriers to participation. It provides for a reduction of administrative burden on the Union and national authorities that has been limited to what is necessary for the Commission to exercise its responsibility for implementing the Union budge. It does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the established objectives. • Choice of the instrument To ensure general application and financial flexibility, the proposal is a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. The form of Regulation as a legal act is compatible with the requirements governing carry-over of appropriations laid out in the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union. The proposal Regulation aims to replace and repeal the Decision No 1313/2013/EU. 3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS • Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation The Regulation implements findings and recommendations of the “Interim Evaluation of the implementation of Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism, 2017-2022” and the “HERA review: Taking stock to reinforce health security in the EU” (2024), as well as preliminary findings of the “Evaluation of the EU4Health Programme” and the “Evaluation of the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371” on serious cross- border threats to health. • Stakeholder consultations The Commission has conducted a specific open public consultation on the ‘EU funding for civil protection, preparedness and response to crises. The survey was open to all EU citizens, businesses, associations, government bodies and has received 1,187 responses of which a total of 139 had attached position papers. EN 5 EN  • Collection and use of expertise The Commission has organised over the past years several meetings with external stakeholders, experts in civil protection representing Member States: Heads of civil protection services and high-ranking officials for civil protection as well as thematic experts to discuss specific topics relating to the revision of the legal framework. • Impact assessment In preparation of the proposal, the Commission carried out an Impact Assessment to identify problems, define objectives of the proposal as well as to establish several options for the improvement and to assess their impact. The RSB Opinion as well as the summary report can be found in the Register of Commission Documents, under the reference 2025/MFF/05. The impact assessment analysed three policy options: Under Option 1, a strengthened sectoral UCPM, including a targeted strengthening of the ERCC, was put forward. Activities at EU-level need to be complemented by significant efforts at national level, including with view to response capacities, which at EU level are limited to the ‘traditional’ civil protection sector (medical stockpiles, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) stockpiles, aerial forest firefighting, etc.). While increased national efforts allow to successfully address all objectives, the added value of EU-level action is not fully utilised. As a result, this option was considered to lack in effectiveness, efficiency, external coherence, and simplification, compared to Option 2. Under Option 2, a cross-sectoral UCPM brings together UCPM and relevant activities for public health security preparedness. Compared to Option 1, synergies and complementarities between civil protection and health emergency preparedness activities are achieved through a single instrument. The integrated budget structure ensures flexibility and agility in the management of the instrument. Option 2 foresees the establishment of an EU crisis coordination hub, thus becoming the central EU capacity for cross-sectoral risk preparedness, including stockpiling, and crisis management coordination. Response capacities at EU level are adapted to the new hazard and threat landscape. An EU risk assessment exploits synergies and complementarities of sectoral assessments and expertise. Further pertinent health emergency activities are encompassed to combat serious cross-border threats to health in line with the general cross-sectoral nature of the initiative. Policy option 3 entails as its main element the creation of a single funding instrument (Preparedness Fund) at EU level comprising all preparedness-relevant mechanisms and activities for the entire MFF. This fund will subsume all preparedness- related mechanisms and funding elements of the current MFF, including but not limited to UCPM, the EU4Health crisis preparedness strand, and preparedness-relevant elements in the National Envelopes, the European Competitiveness Fund, and Erasmus+. In terms of structure, this would imply that the various management modes of the programmes are all used within this single fund: direct (implemented by the Commission), shared (e.g. structural funds) and indirect (e.g. different organisations of the UN system such as WHO, UNHCR, UNICEF). This option would bring about inherent fundamental challenges, including in the management of the budget allocations for all funding programmes and instruments. Policy Option 3 is considered non-viable and was thus discarded at an early stage. The preferred policy option and its main impacts The preferred policy option was considered to be Option 2 as it fully utilises the EU added value and, in doing so, comprehensively achieves the objectives. In the context of a crisis landscape that is becoming more multi-dimensional, and cross-border, opting for policy option 2 brings about important social (e.g. higher common denominator in population EN 6 EN  preparedness), environmental (e.g. more successful preservation of natural spaces and biodiversity), as well as economic (e.g. costs associated with comprehensive prevention and preparedness are significantly lower than those for response) benefits. • Regulatory fitness and simplification The proposal implements significant improvements to streamline and simplify the overall legal framework, including, in particular, enhanced operational clarity and efficiency. For example, risk reporting procedures have been centralised into a dedicated structure, elucidating the collaborative production of deliverables by Member States and the Commission, thereby promoting a shared understanding of risk awareness. In addition, Union support for response is unified within a single article, simplifying the identification of possible operational scenarios, which enhances readiness and response effectiveness. The coordination efforts are strengthened and better clarified by enhancing further the capabilities of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) and creating a specialised crisis coordination hub to support Member States on anticipating and managing the consequences of crises across sectors. The response layer is complemented by clarity on applicable co-financing rates, by integrating them cohesively into one comprehensive reference point, superseding the need for multiple article consultations. Emphasising transport flexibility, the Regulation allows for financeable actions where no commercial transport options are viable but where Member State alternatives are available, a measure that rewards innovative state solutions and underscores adaptable strategies. These enhancements reflect a committed effort to refine the Union Mechanism’s structural and operational frameworks, ensuring they are both adaptable and robust in addressing the complexities of both anticipated and unforeseen emergencies. This cohesive approach aligns with the overarching goal of creating a more effective and transparent civil protection framework. Further dialogue and feedback are encouraged to ensure the alignment of these strategies with practical operational needs. • Fundamental rights The legal revisions of the Union Mechanism and the proposed support measures in the area of health preparedness and response are designed to align with and uphold the fundamental rights as outlined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This memorandum details how these revisions integrate key fundamental rights. The right to life (Article 2) is a primary focus, as the objective of the proposal is to protect and preserve human life during disasters and emergencies. By streamlining procedures, the amendments aim to enhance the Union Mechanism's responsiveness, directly supporting the protection of life through efficient disaster management. Rights to liberty and security (Article 6) are also central to the proposal. The improvements ensure timely responses to threats, thereby enhancing both individual and collective security across the Union. These improvements help safeguard citizens by ensuring rapid deployment and coordination during crises. Attention to the right to health care (Article 35) involves clarifying the Union Mechanism’s role in ensuring robust public health responses. Particularly during health-related emergencies, these revisions enhance cross-border cooperation and resource allocation, thereby supporting health as a fundamental right. The fundamental right to environmental protection, as enshrined in Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, plays a crucial role within the framework of the Union Mechanism. This mechanism, which is designed to support coordinated responses EN 7 EN  to natural and human-induced disasters across the EU and beyond, must inherently include the protection of the environment as a core component of its operations. Environmental protection is particularly relevant in all three phases of disaster management, including as regards serious threats to health: prevention, to reduce the likelihood and impact of environmental hazards; preparedness, to ensure systems are in place to mitigate damage to ecosystems and biodiversity; and response, to swiftly address environmental harm resulting from disasters such as forest fires, chemical spills, or floods. Recognising environmental protection as a fundamental right reinforces the obligation of EU institutions and Member States to integrate ecological considerations into civil protection policies and actions. Embracing a whole-of-society approach, the revisions of the Union Mechanism reinforce the fundamental right to equality (Chapter III) ensuring that the needs of women and groups in situation of vulnerability and/or facing discrimination and social exclusion - such as children, older people, persons with disabilities, people with a minority racial or ethnic background - are taken into consideration across all phases of prevention, preparedness and response. Additionally, the right to good administration (Article 41) is evident in the emphasis on procedural clarity and simplification. These changes ensure that the mechanism operates transparently and efficiently, creating a reliable framework for emergency response. These revisions reflect a fundamental rights-based approach to enhancing the Union Mechanism ensuring that it supports the protective capacity and values embedded in the EU Charter. Further feedback and discussion are encouraged to refine these strategies to best uphold and serve the fundamental rights of all individuals. This proposal considers the obligations stemming from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which the EU is party alongside all Member States. In particular, Article 11 of the Convention on Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies indicates that States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk. 4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS The indicative financial envelope under this Regulation amounts to EUR 10 675 000 000 (current prices). 5. OTHER ELEMENTS • Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements Based on Chapter II of the regulation on risk assessment and anticipation, the policy development process under this revised proposed regulation involves several key elements and reports, which are aligned in reporting cycles and sequenced to ensure a cyclical and effective approach to disaster risk management. The process begins at the national level, where Member States are responsible for developing and making risk assessments at the national or sub-national level publicly available. These risk assessments inform the development of disaster risk management planning, including security risks and hybrid threats, which considers cross-border collaboration and risks with transboundary effects. Such assessments and plans should be consistent and coordinated with other relevant national processes. Additionally, and as a pre-requisite to informed risk assessments, Member States are expected to improve their collection of disaster loss data. EN 8 EN  At least once every five years, Member States submit summaries of their risk assessments, response capabilities, and activities supporting Union disaster resilience goals to the Commission. The Commission further develops the guidelines for the submission of these summaries, ensuring that the process is standardised and effective. At Union level, the transmission of the requested information and other available data enables the Commission to map risk management capabilities at the Union, national and sub-national levels to facilitate best practice exchange and related capacity building. Based on the established risk assessment, the Commission regularly reviews Union wide disaster scenarios for disaster prevention, preparedness, and response, which feed then into the further development of the Union disaster resilience goals as agreed planning assumptions on the disaster risk management capabilities to have in place. With these agreed indicators established, the Commission produces regular reports on the natural and human-induced risks the Union faces, progress made in implementing risk management actions and disaster resilience goals as well as on the response capacities and capabilities needed at Union level to support national action in addressing the evolving risk and threat landscape. This reporting should be consistent and coordinated with other relevant EU-level processes. This sequencing ensures that national risk assessments and planning are fed into a Union-level assessment and goal-setting process, which in turn informs national actions and capacity building, with regular review and update mechanisms to ensure the policies remain effective and relevant. The Commission may request additional information from Member States regarding specific prevention and preparedness measures. The Commission can also propose the deployment of experts or make recommendations to strengthen prevention and preparedness levels. • Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal The main novelty of the proposed Regulation is the establishment of the cross-sectoral preparedness layer as well as incorporation of financing for health emergency preparedness and response. The new preparedness layer aims to fill quantitative and qualitative gaps in the current legal framework. It builds on identified lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent surge of mpox and recent UCPM operations, in particular as regards complex transboundary crises and the response to needs in relation to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. It reflects research and foresight on Europe’s evolving risk and threat landscape stressing the increasingly systemic nature of risks and increasing impact of cascading effects across sectors. It furthermore considers forward looking reflections with Member States on the need to safeguard the continued functioning of existing civil protection systems in Europe under increasingly complex emergency and crisis scenarios. As regards quantitative gaps, this new layer should allow to address cross-sectoral high impact crises in a more comprehensive and integrated approach coordinating preparedness and response arrangements more effectively across affected sectors. As regards qualitative gaps, it allows to address risks and threats for which no existing tools are available. This will allow to reduce fragmentation in crisis management structures at EU level, will simplify procedures and use resources more efficiently in addressing in particular emerging security risks related to hybrid threats and critical infrastructure disruptions with cross-sectoral impact. The health emergency preparedness and response component of the proposed Regulation will improve the financing for surveillance, detection, and understanding of emerging and imminent health threats, and link these insights with medical countermeasures. In close EN 9 EN  coordination with Member States, it will enhance access to production capacities during crises, and support the procurement, stockpiling, and deployment of medical countermeasures as part of preparedness and response efforts. It will also support knowledge development and capacity of EU Member States to prevent, prepare and respond to serious cross border threats to health. The ERCC is envisaged to play a key role with an extended new capability of a central EU Crisis Coordination Hub. Its main area of activity aims to focus on a better understanding of crises facilitating more proactive preparedness and response arrangements, cross-sectoral coordination without taking over or duplicating sectoral expertise and improved monitoring while keeping the Member States and decision-makers informed, in respect of competence and responsibility. Due the support competence in this policy area and related national sensitivities of expanding EU crisis management capabilities, the operational use of response arrangements under this additional preparedness layer should be linked to a trigger mechanism to be activated by the Council and linked to existing procedures such as the activation of the IPCR arrangements or the solidarity clause (under Article 222 TFEU). Based on lessons learnt, co-financing rates and operational rules set out in Decision No 1313/2013 and under the EU4Health programme will be simplified to allow for more effective and flexible implementation in fast-moving crises. The proposed Regulation, therefore, aims to clarify rules on operationalizing many response actions, such as the establishment of logistical hubs and medical evacuation hubs, medical evacuations proper, prepositioning of response capacities and intervention teams. It will also incorporate private sector donations more clearly under the UCPM, which have been successfully established during operations in response to needs in Ukraine. Furthermore, the proposed Regulation will better define UCPM support to Member States in their national preparedness cycles. This includes dedicated rules encouraging peer reviews and voluntary assessments of national preparedness systems. The role of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network as a pillar of capacity building will be further strengthened as a platform for exchanging expertise, lessons learnt, and innovative practices in disaster risk management, while adding rules on population preparedness and cooperation with key stakeholders (military and private sector) in the context of trainings and exercises. The proposed Regulation seeks to set a more flexible and integrated budget structure based on its broader objective and preparedness scope. Its enhanced flexibility and responsiveness to high impact crisis and newly emerging threats will need to be accompanied with corresponding prevention and preparedness-related activities, such as anticipation, foresight, and capacity development. EN 10 EN  2025/0223 (COD) 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) (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 168(5), 196 and 322(1), point (a), thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee13, Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions14, Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, Whereas: (1) In view of the significant increase in the numbers and severity of natural and human- induced hazards in recent years, the strengthening of cooperation in the field of civil protection at Union level is necessary to create a resilient Union with the capabilities required to anticipate and manage those risks and threats, independently of their nature of origin, to ensure that the citizens of the Union enjoy adequate protection. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism (the ‘Union Mechanism’) should fulfil this role by strengthening cooperation and coordination among Member States to enhance the overall ability to prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters and crises. (2) This Regulation lays down an indicative financial envelope for the Union Mechanism and the financing of health emergency preparedness and response. For the purpose of this Regulation, current prices are calculated by applying a fixed 2% deflator. Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council15 (the ‘Financial Regulation’) applies to this Regulation. It lays down the rules on the establishment and the implementation of the general budget of the Union, including the rules on grants, prizes, non-financial donations, procurement, indirect implementation, financial assistance, financial instruments and budgetary guarantees. 13 *OJ L..., p. 14 *OJ L..., p. 15 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj). EN 11 EN  (3) While prevention and preparedness measures are essential to enhance the resilience of the Union in facing natural and human-induced disasters, the occurrence, timing and magnitude of disasters are by nature unpredictable. Financial resources required to ensure an adequate response can vary significantly from year to year and should be made available immediately. Reconciling the budgetary principle of predictability with the necessity to react rapidly to new needs therefore means having to adapt the financial implementation of the work programmes. Consequently, it is appropriate to authorise carry-over of unused appropriations, limited to the following year and solely devoted to response actions, in addition to the carry-over of appropriations authorised under Article 12(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. (4) In a rapidly changing economic, social and geopolitical environment, recent experience has shown the need for a more flexible multiannual financial framework and Union spending programmes. To that effect, the funding should duly consider the evolving policy needs and Union’s priorities as identified in relevant documents published by the Commission, in Council conclusions and European Parliament resolutions, while ensuring sufficient predictability for the budget implementation. (5) In accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/9516, Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/9617 and Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, the financial interests of the Union are to be protected through proportionate measures, including the prevention, detection, correction and investigation of irregularities and fraud, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, the imposition of administrative sanctions. In particular, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 and Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/193918, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) may investigate and prosecute fraud and other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the Union as provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council19. In accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, any person or entity receiving Union funds is to fully cooperate in the protection of the Union’s financial interests, to grant the necessary rights and access to the Commission, OLAF, the EPPO and the Court of Auditors and to ensure that any third parties involved in the implementation of Union funds grant equivalent rights. (6) The protection to be ensured under the Union Mechanism should cover people, the environment and property, including housing, critical infrastructure, such as energy and transport or space infrastructure, and cultural heritage, against all kinds of natural and human-induced disasters. Reference to natural and human-induced disasters should be understood as referring to the consequences of all natural and human- induced hazards. This should include acts of terrorism, technological, radiological or environmental disasters, climate change, marine and inland water pollution, water supply disruptions and water resilience, hydrogeological instability, health 16 OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1–4 17 OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2–5 18 OJ L 283, 31.10.2017, p. 1–71 19 OJ L 198, 28.7.2017, p. 29–41 EN 12 EN  emergencies, and other undefined hybrid disasters or emergencies, occurring inside or outside the Union. Those disasters require cross-sectoral coordination in situations where other Union crisis management mechanisms are also applied. (7) The Union Mechanism should promote solidarity between the Member States through practical cooperation and coordination, without prejudice to the Member States’ primary responsibility to protect people, the environment and property, including cultural heritage, on their territory against all disasters and to provide their disaster- management systems with sufficient capabilities to enable them to prevent, and cope adequately and in a consistent manner with, disasters of a nature and magnitude that can reasonably be expected and prepared for. (8) To promote consistency in its international action in the field of civil protection, the Union should recognise the key role of intergovernmental organisations through strengthening policy dialogue, exchange of knowledge and best practices as disasters and crises are increasing in scale and scope globally and the risks and threats thereof are shared by the Union. (9) In order to foster an integrated and comprehensive approach to disaster risk management, the Union action should cover all priorities for action under the Sendai framework. While structural resilience and preparedness measures are addressed horizontally and in relevant Union programmes, the Mechanism should address them in its different phases of the disaster management cycle, namely prevention, preparedness and response, through coordinated planning and action that anticipate and mitigate risks, enhance preparedness and enable effective response while recovery and reconstruction should remain addressed in other Union instruments. The Union should promote the importance of disaster prevention and the integration of preventive measures into governance and sectoral policies, with a view to reducing risks, strengthening the resilience of population, infrastructure and essential services and minimising the impact of disasters, as well as aim to further develop the Union disaster resilience goals established by Regulation (EU) 2021/836 of the European Parliament and of the Council20. A stronger collective operational response at Union level, together with support for the individual capabilities of Member States through capacity-building measures, is essential to ensure the skills, resources and knowledge needed to manage risks, reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience to future risks and threats. (10) To ensure a comprehensive and up-to-date overview and understanding of the risk landscape on the national and appropriate sub-national level, Member States should regularly conduct and publish assessments of risks, the information on which they should share with the Commission at least once every 5 years, or where a significant change in the risk landscape requires the updating of such assessments. Those risk assessments, or the summaries thereof, should be used by the Commission and to produce and develop Union level disaster scenarios, plans, risks and threats assessments and risks management measures reports as necessary for a comprehensive understanding of risks affecting the Union, and the capabilities to address them. Such assessments and plans should be consistent and coordinated with other relevant national and Union level processes. 20 Regulation (EU) 2021/836 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 185, 26.5.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/836/oj). EN 13 EN  (11) While Member States are responsible for their health policies, they should prepare for and protect against serious cross-border threats to health in a spirit of European solidarity, cooperation and coordination. With a view to strengthening the capability in the Union in this respect, this Regulation should provide support in particular actions under Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on serious cross-border threats to health as well as under Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2372 on a framework of measures for ensuring the supply of crisis-relevant medical countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency at Union level. This Regulation should also ensure synergies with the crisis related mandates of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency, as well as relevant national and international organisations. (12) The Union medical countermeasures landscape still shows a dependence of the Union on third countries in ensuring the supply of raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients, medicinal products, medical devices and personal protective equipment needed in the Union during health crises, in particular pandemics. The Regulation should therefore provide support to actions that foster the procurement, management, stockpiling and deployment of crisis relevant products within the Union to strengthen the strategic autonomy of the Union and ensure better a security of supply of medical countermeasures. (13) During a public health emergency at Union level, as referred to in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2022/2371, the demand for crisis-relevant medical countermeasures could be greater than the supply. In such a situation, surge production and manufacturing of medical countermeasures are essential. Support should be provided to actions that reserve capacity of manufacturing for crisis-relevant medical countermeasures, including the needed raw materials and ancillary supplies and components. (14) Unlike typical procurement activities, procurement activities related to preventing possible health crisis situations from escalating to actual crisis situations require a certain level of flexibility and reactivity. Hence, the Regulation should allow adding new contracting authorities without reaching the threshold required by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 in order to avoid that a potential serious health crisis unfolds. (15) Capacity building programmes as well as uptake and sharing of research and innovation are essential aspects of cooperation in the field of civil protection. To strengthen the collective capacity to prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters, to support knowledge sharing within the civil protection community and application of research in all phases of disaster risk management, and to enhance the collaboration and knowledge exchange between civil protection and disaster risk management actors, civil society organisations and research community, it is necessary to maintain and further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network (the ‘Knowledge Network’) established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/195621. The Knowledge Network should build on the work of and collaborate with existing structures including civil protection practitioners, centres of excellence, universities, researchers and other experts, young professionals and experienced volunteers in 21 Regulation (EU) 2021/836 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 185, 26.5.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/836/oj). EN 14 EN  emergency management as well as all actors intervening in disaster risk management. The Knowledge Network should also be strengthened in line with the Preparedness Union Strategy22 by incorporating dedicated actions in the areas of population preparedness and public-private cooperation. The Network should be able to facilitate knowledge exchange and cooperation with international organisations and, in accordance with Member States’ institutional and legal framework, cooperation with regional and local authorities, ensuring that their role, needs and capabilities are duly considered. (16) With a view to strengthening capabilities in the Union to prevent, prepare for, respond to and manage health crises, this Regulation should provide support to actions taken in the framework of complementary mechanisms and structures established under the relevant Union crisis management instruments, considering in particular European supply chain. That support should include capacity building in health crisis response, including contingency planning and preparedness, including to climate impacts on health, preventive measures such as those related to vaccination and immunisation, strengthened surveillance programmes and improved coordination and cooperation. (17) Provisions should be put in place to ensure a framework for a continuous ongoing evolution of the Union’s Disaster Resilience Goals. Those goals shall be based on current and forward-looking scenarios, including the impacts of climate change on disaster risks, data on past events and cross-sectoral impact analysis, with particular attention given to vulnerable groups and communities living in coastal areas, islands or other regions particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change such as sea level rise and floods. (18) In response to the increasing frequency and severity of natural and human-induced disasters, enhancing intergenerational societal resilience is essential and a collective responsibility. It requires harnessing the collective resources of youth and civil society organisations, media, education, training and cultural institutions, scientific institutions and academia, public authorities, social partners, the private sector, local networks and communities, and citizens in anticipating, preventing, managing, and recovering from disasters and crises. Effective population preparedness for all, including women and groups in vulnerable situations, children, older persons, refugees, people with a minority racial or ethnic background, such as Roma, and persons with disabilities as well as tourists and those who are temporarily present in the territory of a Member State and may be exposed to cross-border risks, strengthens societal resilience by ensuring that all people, irrespective of their ability, possess the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to protect themselves and support others against potential risks and threats. (19) As outlined in the Preparedness Union Strategy, preparedness by design integrates preventive measures, risk assessment, adaptive planning, stakeholder engagement, as well as security considerations across Union legislation, policies and programmes, including in economic and social policies coordinated under the European Semester. This approach offers a proactive framework enabling all relevant stakeholders such as organisations, communities, and authorities to anticipate, prevent, manage, and recover from crises, regardless of their origin. By promoting collaboration between public and private sectors, and the scientific community, as well as by uptake of research and innovation results, preparedness by design strengthens the capacity to 22 JOIN/2025/130 final EN 15 EN  prevent and manage disruptions and ensures the protection of lives, assets, environment and the integrity of critical infrastructure. (20) Disaster risk prevention and preparedness considerations should be systematically integrated into the relevant policies, programmes, and governance processes. The Union Mechanism should therefore advance the principle of preparedness by design, as set out in the Strategy, including by contributing to the development and dissemination of risk knowledge and operational experience to support risk-aware planning and decisions that enhance preparedness across sectors. (21) The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the multi-sectorial nature of health crises, underscoring the importance of incorporating health considerations into a crisis management framework that includes this Regulation. Combining civil protection and health emergency preparedness and response measures within civil protection ensures a comprehensive, coordinated approach to managing disasters, ultimately enhancing resilience and safeguarding the population against a wide range of potential risks and threats. Health emergencies, such as pandemics, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear threats, resistance to antimicrobial or health impacts of climate-related events related to the increase in Europe of vector-borne diseases, can have far-reaching impacts beyond the health sector, affecting social stability, environmental balance or the provision of essential services relying on critical infrastructure. The envisaged cross-cutting approach can prevent or mitigate the impact of health-related emergencies before they escalate into crises. A particular attention needs to be paid to populations living in institutions, such as persons with disabilities or older persons in need of long-term care, who are particularly exposed and affected to health emergencies, as evidenced by the COVID-19 crisis. (22) While Member States are responsible for their health policies, they should protect public health in a spirit of European solidarity, cooperation and coordination. That cooperation should improve preparedness for, and prevention and control of serious cross-border threats to health. Preparedness is the key to improving resilience to future threats. Experience gained from the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that there is a need for further action at Union level to support cooperation and coordination among the Member States. That cooperation should improve preparedness for, and the prevention and control of, the spread of severe human infections and diseases across borders in order to combat other serious cross-border threats to health and to safeguard and improve the health and well-being of all people in the Union. (23) Amid rapidly increasing risks and uncertainty, the Union is dedicated to bolstering resilience across various areas to effectively anticipate, endure and recover from diverse challenges and crises. In that context, the political commitment to work towards the European Civil Defence Mechanism entails a firm political engagement to make available adequate and flexible arrangements to effectively and efficiently address cross-sectoral, complex and long-lasting crises. These specific arrangements should be applied to cross-sectoral crises and also but not exclusively to situations with regard to an integrated political crisis response or a Solidarity Clause activation has been made, or which the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern, as well as to emergencies falling under the scope of other Union instruments that deal with sectoral emergencies, such as in internal market, consular, security, health and climate related emergencies, where the capabilities of the Union Mechanism can provide support in managing consequences of those crises. EN 16 EN  (24) The Union should be prepared for large-scale, cross-sectoral incidents and crises, including the potential for armed aggression affecting one or more Member States. Typically, national civil authorities bear primary responsibility in most crisis situations. However, in an increasing number of cases, such as health emergencies, extreme weather events, and hybrid or cyber-attacks, civilian authorities require military support. In the event of armed aggression, military forces would need civilian assistance to ensure the continuous functioning of the state and society. Therefore, there is a need to improve interaction between civilian and military actors, without undermining their respective competences and in full cooperation with Member States. As follow-up to the Preparedness Union Strategy, the Commission and the High Representative should develop arrangements for civil-military preparedness. Those arrangements should clarify the roles, responsibilities, and priorities of Union institutions, bodies, agencies, and Member States in preparing for and responding to incidents and crises. (25) The use of military means under civilian lead as a last resort may constitute an important contribution to disaster response. Where the use of military capacities in support of civil protection operations is considered to be appropriate, cooperation with the military should follow the modalities, procedures and criteria established by the Council or its competent bodies for making available to the Union Mechanism military capacities relevant to civil protection and should be in line with the relevant international guidelines. (26) Crises often show cross-sectoral nature, impacting multiple sides of society and requiring a coordinated and integrated response from various sectors. Whether stemming from natural hazards, security or public health emergencies, these crises tend to transcend traditional boundaries and affect multiple sectors simultaneously. Rules should be established to enable the Union Mechanism to effectively support cross-sectoral crisis management in complementarity with measures and procedures existing under other Union instruments. (27) The multifaceted nature of cross-sectoral crises demands a comprehensive and integrated approach to their management, necessitating close and efficient cooperation to effectively navigate the challenges they present. National civil protection authorities should remain the primary competent authorities supporting the Union Mechanism. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure coordination, monitoring and support of cross- sectoral operation at the Union level, in support of national efforts. For this reason, a Crisis Coordination Hub (the ‘Hub’) should be established. The Hub shall operate in synergy with the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) and complement its function, making use of the existing structures and expertise of the ERCC. The ERCC will continue its mandate supporting the Union Mechanism, and to provide a central point for operational coordination with Member States authorities, including entities authorised by the Member States, Union institutions and bodies, as well as Commission services. To maximise these efforts, rules should be put in place allowing the scaling up of Union support to Member State action, to accurately reflect the demands and the urgency of the needs. In order to link external action with internal crisis response more effectively and avoid duplication of efforts, the Hub should cooperate with the European External Action Service (EEAS), and in particular its Crisis Response Centre, in respect to the role and competences of the High Representative. (28) In order to ensure coherence with relevant existing structures, the Crisis Coordination Hub will also coordinate closely with the Commission’s internal security architecture, EN 17 EN  including the future establishment of the Integrated Security Operations Centre (ISOC), as announced in the Commission Communication ProtectEU: a European Internal Security Strategy23. The activities of the Hub will, where relevant, align with the Commission’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), communication tools, and security procedures, thereby ensuring maximum interoperability, facilitating the sharing of information, and supporting security aspects in the protection of Commission assets. (29) Provisions of this Regulation which are addressed to Member States should be understood as being addressed also to associated countries. However, while this Regulation may complement the implementation of other Union risk management instruments in cases of cross-sectoral crises, countries associated to the Union Mechanism should not be involved unless they fall under the scope of the supported instrument. (30) Rules should provide that requests for assistance under the Union Mechanism may be made by the affected country, whether it is a Member State or a third country, as well as by the United Nations and its agencies or an international organisation specifically identified for this purpose. Such requests for assistance should be allowed to identify the kind of civil protection or relief needed to address the emergency, including where the request is for dual-use assets. (31) Member States, supported by the Commission, and as appropriate Union delegations in third countries, should ensure that all appropriate measures are taken for the timely transport of assistance they offer, including as regards the preparation of transport, availability and deployability of such assistance. (32) Temporary allocation of any response capacities under the Union Mechanism should be possible for situations of increased risk of disasters in a Member State or third country. It should involve the temporary deployment of resources and response teams in anticipation of natural or human-induced hazards. (33) In order to ensure operational readiness, in particular in wildfire risk areas during the summer season and other areas experiencing recurring seasonal risks, the Union Mechanism should enable the pre-positioning of response capacities in Member States to address those risks. This proactive measure should enhance the Union's readiness to combat recurring disasters, mitigating their devastating impact on lives, homes, and the environment. At the same time, this action should facilitate the sharing of technical and operational knowledge across various scenarios and fire contexts, reinforce interoperability, and improve the concept of host nation support for response capacities. Where those capacities and intervention teams would be required to respond to a disaster during their pre-positioning, rules on response should apply, particularly as regards the cost of their operation. (34) With rising temperatures and prolonged periods of drought, the risk of wildfires in the Union is increasing and such fires are becoming more frequent and more intense; at the same time the limited availability of specialised response capacities, including amphibious aerial forest-fire-fighting means, remains a major concern and constitutes the Union’s principal operational challenge where multiple wildfires occur simultaneously. To ensure a smooth transition to the full implementation of rescEU, the Union-level reserve of capacities established by Decision (EU) 2019/420 of the 23 COM(2025)148 final. EN 18 EN  European Parliament and of the Council24, it is essential to prolong that transitional period as laid down in Decision (EU) 2023/2671 of the European Parliament and of the Council25 until 2034, so that the Union can continue financing national aerial fire- fighting means and make them available for response operations under the Union Mechanism while the permanent rescEU aerial forest-fire-fighting fleet is being progressively established; those new aerial-fire-fighting means, financed under rescEU, are currently under development and are expected to become progressively available starting in 2028. (35) The Union Mechanism may be used to provide civil protection support for consular assistance to Union citizens affected by disasters in third countries, if requested by the Member States whose citizens are affected by the disaster. Where possible, the Member States concerned should endeavour to coordinate such requests among themselves and with any other relevant actors to ensure the optimal use of the Union Mechanism and to avoid practical difficulties on the ground. Civil protection support for consular assistance may encompass actions such as repatriations, assisted departures and evacuations, without prejudice to other possible actions. Such support may be requested where Member States are unable to ensure a swift and effective evacuation of Union citizens using commercial options, due to the sudden nature of the emergency or the political or security situation, which may render commercial flights insufficient, unreliable, or inaccessible. Furthermore, requests may be made in situations involving multiple Member States or large-scale repatriations, assisted departures, and evacuations where pooled means of transportation would provide a more efficient and cost-effective solution. The Member State of the affected citizens, or the Member State coordinating assistance for all Union citizens, may receive financial assistance under the Union Mechanism for civil protection support to consular assistance. To further promote the principle of European solidarity enshrined in this Regulation, financial assistance should be made progressive, subject to the multiple nationalities of Union citizens on board of the means of transport. Member State carrying out the consular assistance to unrepresented Union citizens in accordance with Council Directive (EU) 2015/63726 may request that either passengers or Member States whose citizens are covered by this action, contribute to the costs related to the action at market rates. Where Member States providing such consular assistance benefit from financial assistance under the Union Mechanisms, reimbursements requested pursuant to that Directive should be taken into account in determining any contribution of the Union Mechanism. As an additional layer of civil protection assistance, rescEU capacities in the field of transport and logistics may also be used for civil protection support to consular assistance. (36) To enhance readability, and therefore legal certainty, the financing of adaptation costs for response capacities committed to the European Civil Protection Pool (‘ECPP’) should be simplified. Additionally, higher financing should be ensured for operational 24 Decision (EU) 2019/420 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2019 amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 77I, 20.3.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2019/420/oj). 25 Decision (EU) 2023/2671 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023 amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU to extend the rescEU transitional period (OJ L, 2023/2671, 28.11.2023, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2023/2671/oj). 26 Council Directive (EU) 2015/637 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the Union in third countries and repealing Decision 95/553/EC (OJ L 106, 24.4.2015, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2015/637/oj). EN 19 EN  costs incurred during deployments of ECPP capacities registered in accordance with Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/70427, in response operations under the Union Mechanism. (37) rescEU has consistently proven its added value in Union coordinated response operations. To ensure coherence with the Strategy and subject to availability of financial resources, the Commission should further strengthen rescEU by financing the maintenance of existing capacities and, where appropriate, scaling them up and creating additional ones. Development of rescEU capacities should include all forms of acquisition such as procurement, contracting, renting or leasing, including for medical countermeasures. In this context, and in line with Union law and international commitments, the use of solutions developed or produced in the Union should be promoted in order to reinforce the Union’s strategic autonomy and the resilience of critical supply chains. Under exceptional circumstances, such as when the required medical countermeasures are not defined under rescEU, for example for active pharmaceutical ingredients or investigational products, stocks could be developed outside the Union Mechanism. Experience gained during deployments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union’s response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the recurrent wildfire seasons shows that the rules governing the management and rapid deployment of rescEU capacities need to be further streamlined to ensure rapid response. (38) rescEU capacities may be deployed outside the Union in case a natural or human- induced hazard reaches a significant scale and is of international concern. Such deployment should be considered where the Union has an interest to respond to the emergency or where a crisis has the potential to impact the Union, including where the crisis threatens Union citizens, requires urgent intervention, and was notified under other Union instruments or international response mechanisms. (39) Private sector cooperation should be further strengthened by channelling donations of disaster relief items to existing capacities under rescEU, hosted by Member States. Donations should be channelled through the Member States hosting rescEU capacities, subject to quality assurance before possible dispatching. Rules should be established enabling the setting up of logistical hubs for the purpose of pooling assistance or warehouses stockpiling rescEU capacities that may be received from the private sector. (40) By facilitating the continued development and enhanced integration of cross-border detection, early warning, and alert systems of significance to the Union, the Union should assist Member States in reducing the lead time required to respond to disasters and in issuing timely alerts to Union citizens. Those systems should leverage both existing and emerging information sources and infrastructures, while actively promoting the adoption of innovative technologies. Recognising that Member States hold primary responsibility for alerting their populations to ensure the effective dissemination of warnings and preparedness in the event of disasters, it is essential to reinforce their capabilities. 27 Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/704 laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism and repealing Commission Implementing Decisions 2014/762/EU and (EU) 2019/1310 (OJ L, 2025/704, 15.4.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2025/704/oj). EN 20 EN  (41) To enhance the preparedness for cross-sectoral, cross-border, and Union-wide disasters, the Union , through its Mechanism and existing Union tools, should provide support to Member States in developing and implementing public warning systems. The Union Mechanism should exploit, where necessary, services provided by the Union space systems, such as Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and the Earth observation governmental service, IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM as well as space situational awareness services. The early warning component of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service consisting of the European Flood Awareness System, the European Forest Fire Information System and the European Drought Observatory should contribute to minimising the lead time to respond to disasters. These assets are significant Union-level tools to effectively prepare for and respond to disasters and crises both within and beyond the Union's borders. (42) The Union Mechanism should consolidate and pool together the analytical and scientific capacities necessary for operational preparedness in Union-coordinated response under a scientific and technical advisory facility (STAF). This facility should act as a supporting pillar for the ERCC, the Hub and Member States. STAF should provide expert analysis as well as scientific and technical insights, contributing to enhanced operational preparedness, analysis and situational awareness. This initiative should adopt a service-oriented, all-hazards and cross-sectorial approach to anticipate, prepare for and address disasters and crises, complementing the research and development work of the Commission in-house science and knowledge service (Joint Research Centre). (43) In recent years, the Union Mechanism has been activated repeatedly to conduct medical evacuations from disaster-affected third countries whose health-care systems were overwhelmed, notably in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and, following the nightclub fire in North Macedonia, ensuring the safe transfer and treatment of patients in Member States and other countries associated to the Union Mechanism that volunteered to provide such support. Therefore, in large-scale operations, the Union should support series of actions allowing to coordinate the transfer of patients from the requesting country to the treating Member State; Such actions can include deployment of an assessment team, and short term transit in a local medical facility or specifically established medical evacuation related hub; therefore, common rules should specify which activities are considered part of a medical evacuation operation and the conditions and procedures for setting up and operating hubs dedicated to facilitating medical evacuation. (44) Recognising the importance of fostering international cooperation in the field of civil protection, and without prejudice to rules governing the association of third countries to the Union Mechanism, it is essential for the Commission to engage in coordinated efforts with third countries having similar objectives in disaster risk management and civil protection. That should allow the Commission to align policy priorities and coordinate operations with national authorities of third countries designated as strategic partner countries. (45) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation through the relevant implementing acts, implementing powers should be conferred on EN 21 EN  the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council28. (46) The examination procedure should be used for the adoption of the relevant implementing acts given that those acts implement acts of general scope. (47) Pursuant to Article 85(1) of Council Decision (EU) 2021/176429, persons and entities established in overseas countries and territories are eligible for funding subject to the ruled objectives of the Programme and possible arrangements applicable to the Member State to which the relevant overseas country or territory is linked. (48) The Union Mechanism is to be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU) [XXX]* of the European Parliament and of the Council [performance regulation] which establishes the rules for the expenditure tracking and the performance framework for the budget, including rules for ensuring a uniform application of the principles of ‘do no significant harm’ and gender equality referred to in Article 33(2), points (d) and (f), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 respectively, rules for monitoring and reporting on the performance of Union programmes and activities, rules for establishing a Union funding portal, rules for the evaluation of the programmes, as well as other horizontal provisions applicable to all Union programmes such as those on information, communication and visibility. (49) Where assistance under the Union Mechanism contributes to a Union humanitarian response, particularly in complex emergencies, actions receiving financial assistance under this Regulation should adhere to the humanitarian principles and the principles on the use of civil protection and military resources set out in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid. These actions should also take into consideration other humanitarian emergency response funded by the Union, ensuring alignment with established guidelines and objectives. The Union Mechanism should replace the Union Civil Protection Mechanism established by Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council30. (50) Decision 1313/2013/EU should therefore be repealed, HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: TITLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS 28 Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/182/oj). 29 Council Decision (EU) 2021/1764 of 5 October 2021 on the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories with the European Union including relations between the European Union on the one hand, and Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark on the other (Decision on the Overseas Association, including Greenland) (OJ L 355, 7.10.2021, p. 6, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/1764/oj). 30 Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2013/1313/oj). EN 22 EN  Chapter 1 Subject matter, scope and definitions Article 1 Subject matter 1. This Regulation provides for the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (the ‘Union Mechanism’) and lays down the Union support for health emergency preparedness and response. It sets out objectives, budget for the period 2028-2034, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding. 2. This Regulation lays down in particular: (a) rules on the functioning of the Union Mechanism including specific measures on prevention, preparedness and response, (b) rules on the functioning of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (‘ERCC’) as the Union Mechanism’s coordinating body, (c) rules on the establishment of the Crisis Coordination Hub (‘the Hub’) as the overall structure facilitating situational awareness and operational cross- sectoral preparedness and coordination, (d) support measures for health emergency preparedness and response. Article 2 Scope 1. This Regulation shall aim to ensure the protection of people, environment and property, cultural heritage, against all kinds of natural and human-induced disasters, including serious cross-border threats to health. 2. This Regulation shall enable cross-sectoral coordination in situations where other Union crisis response or risk management mechanisms are applied. The provisions of the Regulation shall be without prejudice to the High Representative’s competences in the external dimension of crises, including missions and operations conducted under the Common Security and Defence Policy. 3. This Regulation shall not affect obligations under existing legal acts of the Union or under existing international agreements nor the Commission competences on security of the Commission personnel, assets and information. It shall be applied without prejudice to and in complementarity with other legal acts of the Union laying down specific rules on response or risk management relating to crises, including health emergency preparedness and response. 4. Title II of this Regulation lays down the rules for: (a) prevention and preparedness actions in the Member States, (b) actions in third countries, relating to the mobilisation and dispatch of experts and European Union Civil Protection Teams (‘EUCP Teams’) that provide advice on prevention and preparedness measures, as well as cooperation on training, and sharing of knowledge and experience under the Knowledge Network, and EN 23 EN  (c) actions to assist with the response to an imminent disaster or immediate adverse consequences of a disaster in the Member States or third countries, following a request for assistance in accordance with Article 28. 5. Title III of this Regulation lays down rules for Union support for health emergency preparedness and response, in particular for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 and of the Regulation (EU) 2022/2372. 6. The establishment of stockpiles referred to in Title III shall be made in accordance with Article 21, except for medical countermeasures that are not defined as rescEU. 7. Where applying the prevention, preparedness and response measures under this Regulation, the special needs of isolated, outermost and other regions or islands of the Union in terms of prevention, preparedness and response. 8. Response under this Regulation shall take into account the special needs of the overseas countries and territories in terms of response. Article 3 Definitions For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘disaster’ means a situation, regardless of its origin, which has or may have a severe impact on people, public health, environment, critical infrastructure or property, including cultural heritage; (2) ‘crisis’ means any ongoing or imminent disaster which has an impact or a potential to impact multiple sectors simultaneously without prejudice to the meaning of crisis in Article 2, point (22), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 applicable in procurement procedures; (3) ‘sector’ means a specific area of interlinked societal, governmental and economic activity, in particular health, environment, transport, energy, security, and other areas of activity vulnerable to disasters. (4) ‘assistance’ means experts, modules, other response capacities or technical assistance and support teams, together with their equipment and in-kind assistance, including relief materials or supplies, as well as offers by Union institutions, agencies and bodies and other capabilities needed to mitigate the immediate consequences of a disaster or a crisis; (5) ‘preparedness’ means a state of readiness and capability of human and material means, structures, systems, communities and organisations enabling them to ensure an effective rapid response, obtained as a result of action taken in advance; (6) ‘prevention’ means actions aimed at reducing risks or mitigating potential adverse consequences of a disaster for people, public health, the environment and property, including cultural heritage; (7) ‘Union disaster resilience goals’ means objectives established by the Commission in cooperation with Member States in the area of civil protection to support prevention and preparedness actions for the purpose of improving the capacity of the Union and its Member States to withstand the effects of a disaster which causes or is capable of causing transboundary effects; EN 24 EN  (8) ‘Common Emergency Communication and Information System’ (CECIS) means a web-based platform developed and maintained by the Commission that facilitates real-time exchange of information between Member States and the ERCC. (9) ‘early warning’ means the timely and effective provision of information that allows action to be taken to avoid or reduce risks and the adverse impacts of a disaster, and to facilitate preparedness for an effective response; (10) ‘module’ means a self-sufficient and autonomous predefined task- and needs- driven arrangement of Member States’ capabilities or a mobile operational team of the Member States, representing a combination of human and material means that can be described in terms of its capacity for intervention or by the task(s) it is able to undertake, and for which minimal technical requirements were defined; (11) ‘technical assistance and support team’ (‘TAST’) means the human and material resources assigned by one or more Member States to fulfil logistical and support tasks; (12) ‘intervention team’ means a specialised group composed of trained personnel and equipped with resources to respond swiftly and effectively to the consequences of disasters, not pre-committed to the European Civil Protection Pool or established as part of rescEU; (13) ‘European Union Civil Protection Team’ (‘EUCP Team’) means a team composed of experts and, where necessary, a TAST, that is selected and deployed by the ERCC under terms of reference related to a request for prevention or preparedness expertise or an emergency response in the context of an ongoing request for assistance; (14) ‘dual-use’ means assets and capacities to be deployed in civil and military context; (15) ‘risk assessment’ means the overall cross-sectoral process of risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation undertaken at national or appropriate sub- national level; (16) ‘risk management capability’ means the ability of a Member State or its regions to reduce, adapt to or mitigate risks (impacts and likelihood of a disaster), identified in its risk assessments to levels that are acceptable in that Member State. Risk management capability is assessed in terms of the technical, financial and administrative capacity to carry out adequate risk assessments, risk management planning for prevention and preparedness, and risk prevention and preparedness measures; (17) ‘host nation support’ means any action undertaken in the preparedness and response phases by the country receiving or sending assistance, or by the Commission, to remove foreseeable obstacles to international assistance offered through the Union Mechanism. It includes support from Member States to facilitate the transiting of this assistance through their territory; (18) ‘logistical support’ means the essential equipment or services required for response capacities to perform their tasks, including the establishment of logistical hubs; EN 25 EN  (19) ‘medical evacuation’ means a series of coordinated actions allowing for organised transport of individuals in need of medical care from disaster- affected areas to appropriate medical facilities, either in a Member State and in case of Union citizens also in third countries; (20) ‘medical evacuation hub’ means a transit facility established under the Union Mechanism that temporarily receives evacuated patients and their accompanying persons, provides medical triage, patients’ stabilisation and continuous (24/7) care, and if necessary organises their transport under the coordination of the ERCC, to healthcare facilities in a Member State; the medical evacuation hub comprises the physical site, its medical and logistical personnel, the equipment and support services necessary to ensure the safe hand-over of patients from the requesting State to the country offering medical treatment; (21) ‘operational costs’ means all the costs of running a capacity or deploying an expert or EUCP Team during an operation. Such costs may include costs related to personnel, international and local transport, logistics, security, consumables and supplies, maintenance, as well as other costs necessary to ensure the effective use of such capacities; (22) ‘transport costs’ means costs related to the movement of transport and logistical resources to the place indicated by the requesting Member State, third country or organisation, including the costs of all services, fees, logistical, handling costs and other transport needs related to a response, fuel and possible accommodation costs as well as other indirect costs such as taxes, duties in general and transit costs; (23) ‘associated country’ means a third country that has signed an agreement with the Union to participate in actions under this Regulation under the same conditions as Member States. Reference to Member States shall be construed as including associated States, unless otherwise specified; (24) ‘medical countermeasures’ means medical countermeasures within the meaning of Article 3, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371; (25) ‘serious cross-border threats to health’ means threats referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 as well as radiological and nuclear threats. Chapter 2 Objectives and financial provisions Article 4 Objectives 1. The general objective of this Regulation shall be to strengthen cooperation between the Union and the Member States to prevent, prepare for and respond to all kinds of natural and human-induced disasters with a view to consequence management, and serious cross-border threats to health, that may occur inside or outside the Union, as well as situations where they impact several sectors simultaneously. 2. The general objective referred to in paragraph 1 shall be pursued through the following specific objectives: EN 26 EN  (a) strengthen the understanding and anticipation of disaster risks and threats, including those linked to climate change and public health, and work proactively to prevent or mitigate their potential impacts; foster prevention and preparedness; and enhance collaboration between civil protection, health and other relevant authorities; (b) facilitate, notably through the Knowledge Network, capacity building at Union and Member State level, in particular by fostering and increasing the uptake and use of research and innovation results in disaster and crisis, by providing and conducting capacity building programmes such as training and exercises, peer reviews, deployment of experts and EUCP Teams that provide advice on prevention and preparedness measures, as well as other expertise, as well as technical and financial assistance to support strategies, plans and investments, foster prevention, preparedness and resilience; (c) enhance preparedness at Member State and Union level, including all levels of society, to respond to disasters, in particular (i) with the support of the ERCC and the Hub, and their communication and information structures for coordination and situational awareness among authorities of the Member States and existing EU crisis management structures, (ii) by supporting the development and maintenance of effective early warning systems to detect and communicate imminent threats of disasters, allowing for timely action to be taken to prevent or mitigate impacts, (iii) by developing and maintaining response capacities, strengthening their interoperability and considering their potential dual use in case of crisis, (iv) by promoting the integration of disaster risk prevention and preparedness considerations into policies and financial frameworks at national and Union level, with the aim of strengthening long-term resilience, (v) by facilitating preparedness and resilience among all actors and stakeholders, including all levels of government, civil and military authorities, civil society, the private sector, and the provision of vital societal functions with a view to strengthening overall population preparedness and societal resilience; (d) facilitate rapid and efficient response inside the Union, including in the countries referred to in Article 9(1), as well as outside of the Union, following a request for assistance in accordance with Article 28; (e) to support Member States’ and Union preparedness and response to cross-sectoral crises, in particular by upscaling assistance to address their intensity and impact, as well as by supporting response to crises initiated under other Union crisis response or risk management instruments where required, including through the Hub, and by supporting the cooperation and coordination between relevant civil and military actors, in particular by supporting the establishment of comprehensive civil-military preparedness arrangements; (f) to enhance Member States’ and Union efforts in health emergency preparedness and response by: (i) strengthening the capability for prevention, preparedness and rapid response to serious cross-border threats to health, in particular by EN 27 EN  supporting health security policies and solutions, improving data collection, early warning and surveillance systems, and (ii) improving the supply of medical countermeasures by enhancing their availability and accessibility of medical countermeasures, in particular through reservation capacities, procurement, stockpiling and deployment, as well as (iii) coordination actions and strengthening capacity building. Article 5 EU civil-military preparedness and cooperation The Commission shall work jointly with the High Representative to: (a) contribute to the development of measures to enhance civil-military preparedness and coordination of response within the Union, in consultation with the Member States; (b) develop arrangements to clarify roles and responsibilities and lay down priorities for preparing and responding to disasters and crises within the Union as well as Union- wide scenarios to form the basis of Union-level training and exercises, best practices, including standard operating procedures, and mechanisms for effective cooperation and communication in crisis scenarios. Article 6 Budget 1. The indicative financial envelope for the implementation of the Regulation for the period 2028-2034 is set at EUR 10 675 000 000 in current prices. 2. Budgetary commitments for activities extending over more than one financial year may be broken down over several years into annual instalments. 3. Appropriations may be entered in the Union budget beyond 2034 to cover the expenses necessary and to enable the management of actions not completed by 2034. 4. The financial envelope referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and the amounts of additional resources referred to in Article 7 may also be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the Regulation, such as preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities, corporate information technology systems and platforms, information and communication activities, including corporate communication on the political priorities of the Union, and all other technical and administrative assistance or staff related expenses incurred by the Commission for the management under this Regulation. 5. In addition to Article 12(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, commitment and payment appropriations that have not been used by the end of the financial year for which they were entered in the annual budget shall be automatically carried over and may be respectively committed and paid up to 31 December of the following year. The carried-over appropriations shall be used solely for response actions. The carried-over appropriations shall be the first appropriations to be used in the following financial year. EN 28 EN  Article 7 Additional resources 6. Member States, Union institutions, bodies and agencies, third countries, international organisations, international financial institutions, or other third parties, may make additional financial or non-financial contributions under this Regulation. Additional financial contributions shall constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(2), points (a), (d), or (e) or Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. 7. Resources allocated to Member States under shared management may, at their request, be made available under this Regulation. The Commission shall implement those resources directly or indirectly in accordance with Article 62(1), points (a) or (c) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. They shall be additional to the amount referred to in Article 6(1) of this Regulation. Those resources shall be used for the benefit of the Member State concerned. Where the Commission has not entered into a legal commitment under direct or indirect management for additional amounts thus made available under this Regulation, the corresponding uncommitted amounts may, at the request of the Member State concerned, be transferred back to one or more respective source programmes or their successors. Article 8 Alternative, combined and cumulative funding 1. This Regulation shall be implemented in synergy with Union programmes. An action that has received a Union contribution from another programme may also receive a contribution under this Regulation. The rules of the relevant Union programme shall apply to the corresponding contribution, or a single set of rules may be applied to all contributions and a single legal commitment may be concluded. If all Union contributions are provided based on eligible cost, the cumulative support from the Union budget shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the action and may be calculated on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the documents setting out the conditions for support. 2. Award procedures under this Regulation may be jointly conducted under direct or indirect management with Member States, Union institutions, bodies and agencies, third countries, international organisations, international financial institutions, or other third parties (‘partners to the joint award procedure’), provided the protection of the financial interests of the Union is ensured. Such procedures shall be subject to a single set of rules and lead to the conclusion of single legal commitments. For that purpose, the partners to the joint award procedure may make resources available to the Union Programme in accordance with Article 7 of this Regulation, or the partners may be entrusted with the implementation of the award procedure, where applicable in accordance with Article 62(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. In joint award procedures representatives of the partners to the joint award procedure may also be members of the evaluation committee referred to in Article 153(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. Article 9 Associated third countries EN 29 EN  1. The association under this Regulation may be opened to the following third countries through full of partial association, in accordance with the objectives laid down in Article 4 and in accordance with the relevant international agreements or any decisions adopted under the framework of those agreements and applicable to: (a) members of the European Free Trade Association which are members of the European Economic Area, as well as European micro-states; (b) acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates; (c) European Neighbourhood Policy countries; (d) other third countries. 2. The association agreements for participation under this Regulation shall: (a) ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits of the third country associated under this Regulation; (b) lay down the conditions of participation under this Regulation, including the calculation of financial contributions, consisting of an operational contribution and a participation fee and its general administrative costs; (c) not confer any decision-making power under this Regulation; (d) guarantee the rights of the Union to ensure sound financial management and to protect its financial interests; (e) where relevant, ensure the protection of security and public order interests of the Union. For the purposes of point (d), the third country shall grant the necessary rights and access required under Regulations (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, and guarantee that enforcement decisions imposing a pecuniary obligation on the basis of Article 299 of the Treaty, as well as judgements and orders of the Court of Justice of the European Union, are enforceable. Article 10 Implementation and forms of Union funding 1. This Regulation shall be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, under direct management or under indirect management with entities referred to in Article 62(1), point (c), of that Regulation. 2. Union funding may be provided in any form in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, in particular grants, prizes, procurement and non-financial donations. 3. Direct grants may be awarded by the Commission to Member States without a call for proposals for actions under the specific objectives referred to in Article 4(2) in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. 4. Grants under the specific objective referred to in Article 4(2) may be used in combination with financing from the European Investment Bank, banks in the Union or associated countries or from other development or public financial institutions, as well as in combination with financing from private sector finance institutions and from public-sector or private-sector investors, including through public-public or public-private partnerships. EN 30 EN  5. Where Union funding is provided in the form of a grant, funding shall be provided as financing not linked to costs or, where necessary, simplified cost options, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. Funding may be provided in the form of actual eligible cost reimbursement only where the objectives of an action cannot be achieved otherwise. 6. For the purposes of Article 153(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the evaluation committee may be composed partially or fully of independent external experts. Article 11 Eligibility 1. Eligibility criteria shall be set to support achievement of the objectives laid down in Article 4(2), in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and shall apply to all award procedures under this Regulation. 2. In award procedures for direct and indirect management, one or more of the following legal entities may be eligible to receive Union funding: (a) entities established in a Member State; (b) entities established in an associated third country; (c) international organisations; (d) other entities established in non-associated third countries where the funding of such entities is essential for implementing the action and contributes to the objectives laid down in Article 4(2). 3. In addition to Article 168(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, associated third countries referred to in Article 9(1) of this Regulation may, where relevant, participate in and benefit from any procurement mechanisms set out in Article 168(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. Non-associated third countries may participate in the procurement procedures set out in Article 168(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 if it is necessary to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 4, and subject to the agreement of all participating countries. 4. Award procedures affecting security or public order, in particular concerning strategic assets and interests of the Union or its Member States, shall be restricted in accordance with Article 136 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. 5. In award procedures for grants, actions shall not be eligible for funding where those actions or parts thereof, are already fully financed from other public or private sources, except contributions from the Union in the context of synergy actions referred to in Article 8. 6. The work programme referred to in Article 110 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 or the documents related to the award procedure may further specify the eligibility criteria set out in this Regulation or set additional eligibility criteria for specific actions. Article 12 Work programme EN 31 EN  The Regulation shall be implemented by work programmes referred to in Article 110 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. TITLE II CIVIL PROTECTION Chapter 1 Risk Assessment and Risk Management Planning Article 13 Union disaster resilience goals The Commission, in cooperation with Member States, shall further develop Union disaster resilience goals in the field of civil protection, and adopt recommendations to define them as a common baseline to support prevention and preparedness actions. Those goals shall be based on current and forward-looking scenarios, including on space data from Copernicus, and those concerned with the impacts of climate change on disaster risks, data on past events and cross- sectoral impact analysis, with particular attention given to vulnerable groups. When developing Union disaster resilience goals, the Commission shall take into account recurrent disasters that hit Member States and suggest that Member States take specific measures, including any measures to be implemented with the use of Union funds, to strengthen resilience to such disasters. Article 14 National risk assessment and risk management planning In order to promote an effective and coherent approach to prevention and preparedness within the Union Mechanism, Member States shall: (a) further develop disaster risk assessments at national or appropriate sub-national level and ensure coordination and consistency with other relevant risk assessment processes as well as public availability of their non-sensitive results to support population risk awareness and preparedness; (b) further develop the assessment of disaster risk management capability at national or appropriate sub-national level; (c) further develop and refine disaster risk management planning at national or appropriate subnational level, including as regards cross-border collaboration and risks with the potential for transboundary effects, taking into account the Union disaster resilience goals and ensure coordination and consistency with other relevant planning processes. (d) in line with international commitments, improve the collection and dissemination of disaster loss data at national or appropriate sub-national level, including by better utilising space data. Article 15 Sharing of national risk management information EN 32 EN  To foster the development of a shared understanding of disaster risks and threats at Union level, identify common needs in disaster risk management capability building, support the implementation of the Union disaster resilience goals, and facilitate the exchange of good practices, the Member States, without prejudice to national rules and procedures, shall make available to the Commission a summary in accordance with the guidelines referred to in Article 16(2), by 31 December 2028 and at least once every 5 years thereafter: (a) risk assessments at national or appropriate sub-national level, including assessment of risks or disasters with the potential for transboundary effects; (b) assessment of disaster risk management capabilities and response capacities at national or appropriate sub-national level; (c) activities supporting the implementation of the Union disaster resilience goals; (d) investment needs in disaster risk management that require, or could benefit from, support under the relevant Union instruments. Article 16 Union level action on risk assessment and risk management planning 1. To enhance the understanding of disaster risks facing the Union and inform coordinated preparedness, and based on the summaries referred to in Article 16 and considering any other available cross-sectoral data, including space data, on identification of risks, including at Union level, as well as the work of the Knowledge Network, the Commission shall: (a) produce at least once every 5 years a report providing a cross-sectoral overview of natural and human-induced disaster risks that the Union faces, and the progress made in the implementation of Article 14 and the Union disaster resilience goals referred to in Article 13; (b) establish and regularly review disaster scenarios at Union level for prevention, preparedness and response; (c) produce at least once every 5 years, a report on response capacities and relevant capabilities at Union level, and remaining gaps in relation to response capacities at national or appropriate sub-national level as referred to in Article 15, point (b), while taking into account relevant capacity goals and performance targets. The report shall also provide an overview of the budgetary and cost developments relating to response capacities and an assessment of the need for further development of those capacities. 2. The Commission shall develop and update, together with the Member States, guidelines on the submission of the summary referred to in Article 15. 3. The Commission may request that Member States provide additional information on specific prevention and preparedness measures related to risks leading to regularly occurring or particularly impactful disasters, and if appropriate: (a) propose the deployment of experts to provide advice on prevention and preparedness measures; or (b) make recommendations to strengthen the level of prevention and preparedness in the Member State concerned. The Commission and that Member State shall keep each other informed about any measures taken following such recommendations. EN 33 EN  Chapter 2 Capacity building and preparedness Article 17 Capacity building tools The Commission shall support Member States to enhance their capacity in dealing with risks by providing access to tools such as training and exercises programmes, technical and financial assistance, peer reviews, deployment of experts and EUCP Teams that provide advice on prevention and preparedness measures and other provision of expertise, learning and knowledge sharing, and support to uptake of research and innovation results in disaster risk management. Article 18 Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network 1. The Knowledge Network shall aggregate, process and disseminate knowledge and information relevant to the Union Mechanism and to support collaborative initiatives of civil protection and disaster risk management actors within the Union, including civil society organisations, local and regional authorities, private sector and the research community and based on a multi-hazard approach. 2. The Commission shall, through the Knowledge Network, take due account of the expertise available in the Member States, including across all levels of government, at Union level, at the level of international organisations and entities, at the level of third countries and at the level of organisations active on the ground. 3. The Commission and the Member States shall promote gender-balanced and inclusive participation in the establishment and the functioning of the Knowledge Network. 4. The Commission shall, through the Knowledge Network, support coherence of planning and decision-making processes by facilitating the continuous exchange of knowledge and information involving all areas of activity under the Union Mechanism. 5. The Commission shall, through the Knowledge Network, support Member States in raising disaster risk awareness of the population. 6. The Commission, through the Network, shall in particular: (a) strengthen the collective capacity to prevent, prepare and respond effectively to disasters and to support knowledge sharing and learning, as well as to promote investment in disaster risk management. This includes: (i) the set-up and management of financial assistance programmes in order to enhance risk management and knowledge sharing and to encourage the development of investments and plans for prevention and preparedness; (ii) the set-up and management of a training and exercise programme, and an exchange of experts programme for civil protection and disaster and crisis management personnel covering the prevention, preparedness and response. The programmes shall focus on and encourage the exchange of best practices in the field of civil protection, disaster and crisis EN 34 EN  management, and include joint courses. The exchange of expertise in the area of disaster and crisis management shall include exchanges of professionals and experienced volunteers. The training and exercises and the exchange of experts programmes shall aim to strengthen cooperation and coordination between Member States and the Commission in the field of civil protection, disaster and crisis management and to enhance the coordination, compatibility and complementarity of capacities referred to in Articles 20 and 21, and to improve the competence of experts as referred to in Article 33; (iii) the set-up and management of programmes for the provision and exchange of expertise. (b) strengthen the dissemination and uptake of research and innovation results in all phases of civil protection and disaster risk management, and stimulating interaction between research and innovation results, the private sector, and Member State authorities. (c) Collect and manage the lessons learnt from civil protection actions conducted within the framework of the Union Mechanism, including aspects from the entire disaster management cycle, to provide a broad basis for learning processes and knowledge development. This shall include: (i) monitoring, analysing and evaluating all the relevant civil protection actions within the Union Mechanism; (ii) promoting implementation of lessons learnt in order to obtain an experience-based foundation for the development of activities within the disaster management cycle; and (iii) developing methods and tools for gathering, analysing, promoting and implementing lessons learnt. This action shall include, where appropriate, lessons learnt from interventions outside the Union with regard to exploiting links and synergies between assistance provided under the Union Mechanism and humanitarian response; (d) maintain an online platform serving the Knowledge Network to support and facilitate the implementation of the different tasks referred to in points (a), (b) and (c). 7. When carrying out the tasks set out in paragraph 1, the Commission shall take particular account of the needs and interests of Member States facing disaster risks of a similar nature, as well as of the need to strengthen the protection of biodiversity and cultural heritage. 8. The Commission shall strengthen cooperation on capacity building, uptake of research and innovation results, and shall promote the sharing of knowledge and experience, between the Network and international organisations and third countries, in particular in order to contribute to meeting international commitments, particularly those in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. 9. The Network shall also promote the operational uptake of Union-funded innovative solutions, and support Member States in identifying and applying state-of-the-art technologies and approaches, including through innovation procurement and public- private partnerships. EN 35 EN  10. The organisation of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network shall be laid down in an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). Article 19 General preparedness actions 1. Member States shall, on a voluntary basis, develop response capacities in accordance with Articles 20 and 21. 2. The Commission shall support Member States in raising disaster risk awareness of the population. 3. At the request of a Member State, the Commission may support and coordinate stand-by allocation of response capacities and intervention teams, including for training, exercises, exchange of knowledge and improving interoperability of capacities and intervention teams. 4. Member States may, subject to appropriate security safeguards, provide information about relevant military response capacities that could be used as part of the assistance through the Union Mechanism, such as transport and logistical or medical support. 5. Member States shall provide to the Commission relevant information on the experts, modules and other response capacities that they make available for assistance through the Union Mechanism and update this information when necessary. 6. Member States shall take the appropriate preparedness actions to facilitate host nation support. 7. The Commission shall award medals to recognise and honour longstanding commitment and extraordinary contributions to the Union Mechanism. The award of medals shall be made in accordance with the implementing acts adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 8. Without prejudice to Article 9, the Commission may coordinate policy priorities, as well as, where necessary, coordinate operational activities, with the national authorities of a third country, designated as strategic partner country, that has aligned objectives in the field of civil protection, or with which the Union has concluded security and defence agreement. Article 20 European Civil Protection Pool 1. The European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP) shall consist of a pool of voluntarily committed response capacities of the Member States and include modules, other response capacities, categories of experts and technical assistance and support teams (TAST). The Commission shall lay down rules for the identification of Member States experts, modules and other response capacities as well as operational requirements for the functioning and interoperability of modules and deployment in an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 2. The assistance provided by a Member State through the ECPP shall be complementary to existing capacities in the requesting Member State, without EN 36 EN  prejudice to the primary responsibility of Member States for disaster prevention and response on their territory. 3. On the basis of identified risks and any existing scenario-building as referred to in point (b) of Article 16(1), the Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, define the types and specify the number of key response capacities required for the ECPP (‘response capacity goals’). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 4. The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall monitor progress towards the response capacity goals set out in the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 3, and identify potentially significant response capacity gaps in the ECPP. Where such gaps have been identified, the Commission shall examine whether the necessary capacities are available to the Member States outside the ECPP. The Commission shall encourage Member States to address significant response capacity gaps in the ECPP, in accordance with the report referred to in point (c) of Article 17(1). 5. By means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2), the Commission shall establish and manage a process for certification and registration of the response capacities that the Member States make available to the ECPP and define the quality and interoperability requirements of the response capacities. 6. Member States shall on a voluntary basis identify, commit and register the response capacities which they offer to the ECPP, including relevant military capacities that could be used as part of assistance. The registration of multinational modules provided by two or more Member States shall be undertaken jointly by all the Member States concerned. 7. The response capacities that Member States make available for the ECPP shall remain available for national purposes at all times. 8. Response capacities that Member States make available for the ECPP shall be available for response operations under the Union Mechanism following a request for assistance through the ERCC. The ultimate decision on their deployment shall be taken by the Member States which registered the response capacity concerned. Where domestic emergencies, force majeure or, in exceptional cases, serious reasons prevent a Member State from making those response capacities available in case of a specific disaster, that Member State shall inform the Commission as soon as possible by referring to this Article. 9. In the event of deployment, Member States' response capacities shall remain under their command and control and can be withdrawn, upon consultation with the Commission, where domestic emergencies, force majeure or, in exceptional cases, serious reasons prevent a Member State from keeping those response capacities available. The coordination among the different response capacities shall be facilitated where appropriate by the Commission through the ERCC in accordance with Article 25. Article 21 rescEU EN 37 EN  1. rescEU shall provide assistance to complement the overall existing response capacities at national level and those committed by Member States to the ECPP or fulfil operational needs to ensure an effective and rapid response to requests for assistance made in accordance with Article 28. 2. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, define the response capacities rescEU shall consist of, based, among other things, on Union risk assessments in accordance with Article 16(1), taking into account identified and emerging risks and overall capacities and gaps at Union level. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 3. rescEU capacities shall be acquired, rented, leased, otherwise contracted by or donated to the Member States. 4. rescEU capacities, as defined by means of implementing acts adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2), may be rented, leased or otherwise contracted by the Commission to the extent necessary to address the gaps in the area of transport and logistics. 5. In duly justified cases of urgency, the Commission may acquire, rent, lease or otherwise contract capacities determined by means of implementing acts adopted in accordance with the urgency procedure referred to in Article 35(2). Such implementing acts shall: (a) determine the necessary type and quantity of material means and any necessary enabling support services, already defined as rescEU capacities; and/or (b) define additional material means and any necessary enabling support services as rescEU capacities and determine the necessary type and quantity of those capacities. 6. rescEU capacities shall be hosted by the Member States or the Commission. The Commission and the Member States shall, where appropriate, ensure an adequate geographical distribution of rescEU capacities. 7. The Commission shall define quality requirements, by means of implementing acts, for the response capacities forming part of rescEU, in consultation with the Member States. The quality requirements shall be based on established international standards, where such standards already exist. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 8. rescEU capacities may only be used for national purposes, including dual-use capacities, when not being used or needed for response. 9. rescEU capacities shall be used, including for deployment, national use, loaning or donations, including for managing rescEU strategic reserves, in accordance with implementing acts adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 10. rescEU capacities shall be available for response following a request for assistance through the ERCC in accordance with Article 28. The decision on their deployment and demobilisation, and any decision in the event of conflicting requests, shall be taken by the Commission, through the ERCC, in close coordination with the requesting Member State and the Member State hosting the response capacity. EN 38 EN  11. Where rescEU capacities consist of equipment or consumable goods, the Commission, through the ERCC, may decide to either donate or loan the offered rescEU capacities. 12. The Member State on the territory of which rescEU capacities are deployed shall be responsible for directing response operations. In the event of deployments outside the Union, Member States hosting rescEU capacities shall be responsible for ensuring that rescEU capacities are fully integrated into the overall response. 13. In the event of deployment, the Commission shall, through the ERCC, agree with the requesting Member State on the operational deployment of rescEU capacities. The requesting Member State shall facilitate operational coordination of its own capacities and rescEU activities during operations. 14. The coordination of the different response capacities shall be facilitated, where appropriate, by the Commission through the ERCC. 15. Member States shall be informed of the operational status of rescEU capacities through CECIS. 16. Subject to the operational needs within Member States, rescEU capacities may be deployed in response to disasters and crises outside the Union that have a significant impact on the Union or on Member States or are of an international concern. 17. When rescEU capacities are deployed in third countries, in specific cases, Member States may refuse to deploy their own personnel, in accordance with the implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). Article 22 rescEU transitional 1. Until 2034, Union support may be provided to cover 75 % of the costs necessary to ensure rapid access to national capacities corresponding to those defined in accordance with Article 21(2). 2. The capacities referred to paragraph 1 shall be designated as rescEU capacities until the end of the date referred to therein. 3. By way of derogation from Article 21, the decision on the deployment of the capacities referred to in the paragraph 1 shall be taken by the Member State that made them available as rescEU capacities. In case of domestic emergencies, force majeure or, in exceptional cases, serious reasons prevent a Member State from making those capacities available for a specific disaster, that Member State shall inform the Commission as soon as possible by referring to this Article. Article 23 Anticipation and early warning 1. The Commission, in cooperation with Member States, shall undertake the following actions to enhance anticipation and early warning capabilities, building on the Union space capabilities provided by Copernicus, Galileo and where necessary, other space services: EN 39 EN  (a) Further improve cross-border detection and early warning systems of Union interest to mitigate the immediate effects of disasters; (b) integrate and enhance existing cross-border detection and early warning systems using a multi-hazard approach, with the objective of minimising lead time in response; (c) maintain and further develop capabilities for situational awareness and analysis; (d) monitor disasters and, where relevant, assess climate change impacts, providing advice grounded in scientific knowledge; (e) translate scientific data into actionable operational information; (f) create, maintain, and advance European scientific partnerships addressing all hazards, thereby promoting the interconnection between national early warning and alert systems, and potentially linking such systems with the ERCC and relevant IT systems; (g) support the efforts of Member States and mandated international organisations by providing scientific knowledge, innovative technologies, and expertise for the development of their early warning systems, including through the Knowledge Network. 2. A scientific and technical facility shall pool together existing initiatives, programmes, tools, and services, such as Copernicus Services, to contribute with scientific and technical expertise to operational preparedness, analysis and situational awareness of the Hub, the ERCC and the Member States in order to anticipate, prepare for and respond to disasters and crises following a service-oriented, all- hazards and cross-sectorial approaches. 3. Where emergency services are provided by Galileo and EGNOS, Copernicus, IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM or Space Situational Awareness, each Member State may decide to use them. Article 24 Public warning systems 1. The Commission shall cooperate with Member States to support the integration of the Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service into national public warning systems. 2. The Commission shall support Member States in enhancing population preparedness and awareness about ongoing alerts across the Union. 3. In the event of a transboundary disaster, the Hub and the ERCC may facilitate information sharing among concerned countries regarding the use of Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service. Based on a request by a Member State, the Hub and the ERCC may disseminate on behalf of that Member State, public warning messages via Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service within that Member State. 4. The Commission shall establish procedures for utilising the Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service to assist third countries that request such service. EN 40 EN  5. The public warning messages referred to in paragraph 3 may take into account Unions’ Space Situational Awareness services, in particular space surveillance and tracking services. Article 25 Emergency Response Coordination Centre 1. The ERCC shall enhance common situational awareness of risks falling under the scope of this Regulation, as well as 24/7 operational capacity, and serve the Member States and the Commission in pursuit of the objectives of this Regulation. 2. The ERCC shall work in close cooperation with national civil protection authorities and the relevant Union institutions and bodies. 3. The ERCC shall in particular coordinate, monitor and support in real-time the response at Union level. 4. The ERCC shall have access to operational, analytical, monitoring, information management and communication capabilities, and shall be equipped to receive and process EU classified information, to address a broad range of disasters within and outside the Union. 5. Member States shall designate contact points for the functioning of the ERCC and inform the Commission accordingly. The interaction of the ERCC with Member State’s contact points shall be defined by means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). Article 26 Crisis Coordination Hub 1. Without prejudice to Article 25, a Crisis Coordination Hub (the Hub) is hereby established. The Hub shall build upon the structure and the capabilities of the ERCC, including its analytical and scientific capabilities, situational awareness, and 24/7 operational capacity for cross-sectoral crises. 2. The Hub shall closely cooperate with the EEAS Crisis Response Centre in the external dimension of cross-sectoral crises, with respect to its roles and competences. 3. The Hub shall anticipate and monitor risks connected to cross-sectoral crises, including producing regular operational-outlook briefings on cross-sectoral and all- hazard risks. 4. The Hub shall ensure coordination with relevant national authorities, as designated in accordance with paragraph 5, Commission services, Union institutions and bodies, and provide support in situations referred to in Article 29(1). 5. Member States shall designate contact points for the functioning of the Hub and inform the Commission accordingly. Chapter 3 Response Article 27 Notifications of disasters EN 41 EN  1. In the event of a disaster within the Union, or of an imminent disaster, which causes or is capable of causing transboundary effects, the Member State in which the disaster occurs or is likely to occur shall, without delay, notify the potentially affected Member States and the Commission. The notification to the Commission shall not be required where the obligation of notification has already been addressed under other Union legislation, under the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community or under existing international agreements. 2. In the event of a disaster within the Union, or of an imminent disaster, which is likely to result in a request for assistance from one or more Member States, the Member State in which the disaster occurs or is likely to occur shall, without delay, notify the Commission that a possible request for assistance through the ERCC can be expected, in order to enable the Commission, as appropriate, to inform the other Member States and to activate its competent services. 3. The notifications referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall, as appropriate, be made through CECIS. The Commission shall define the components of CECIS as well as the organisation of information sharing through CECIS by means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 4. The Hub shall ensure an appropriate framework for receiving the notifications about crises, received by the Commission through other Union instruments. Article 28 Request for assistance 1. When a disaster occurs or is imminent, the affected Member State or third country may request assistance through the ERCC. The request shall be as specific as possible. It may include in particular a request for modules, intervention teams, disaster relief items and equipment, logistical resources, transport resources, and any other resources. The Commission shall lay down the operational procedures for response to disasters by means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 2. In exceptional circumstances, and in the absence of a request for assistance by a third country affected by a disaster, a Member State may, on humanitarian grounds, request the activation of the Union Mechanism. Implementation of Union Mechanism shall be in accordance with the applicable rules of international law (including consent (explicit or implicit) of the affected country). The overall response shall be in coordination with the United Nations and its agencies, and have in place an effective acceptance of offers and delivery of assistance. 3. When the affected country is a third country, assistance may also be requested by the United Nations and its agencies, or a relevant international organisation, on behalf and with agreement of the affected country. The Commission shall identify relevant international organisations by means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 4. A request for assistance shall lapse after a maximum period of 90 days, unless new elements justifying the need for continued or additional assistance are provided to the ERCC EN 42 EN  5. Scientific and technical advisory facility (STAF) shall combine the existing analytical and scientific capabilities, including those offered by the ERCC, necessary for response. An affected country may ask the ERCC to activate STAF, including the services provided by the EU Space capabilities and get access to space derived data. 6. Upon receiving a request for assistance, the Commission shall, through the ERCC, as appropriate and without delay: (a) forward the request to the contact points of Member States; (b) collect and analyse information on the situation, with the goal of generating common awareness of the situation and the response to the situation, and disseminate that information directly to the Member States; (c) facilitate the coordination and delivery of assistance, if necessary, through the presence on site of an expert or EUCP Team, and additional necessary supporting and complementary action; (d) advise on the type of assistance necessary to mitigate the consequences of a disaster; (e) make recommendations in consultation with the affected Member State or third country, for the provision of assistance through the Union Mechanism, and invite Member States to deploy capacities and facilitate the coordination of the required assistance. Where the requesting country is a Member State, it shall take the appropriate actions to facilitate host nation support for the incoming assistance in line with the recommendation on Host Nation Support. 7. Where the affected country is a third country, the Commission shall: (a) liaise with the affected country on technical details, such as the precise needs for assistance, the acceptance of offers and the practical arrangements for the local reception and distribution of assistance; (b) liaise with or support the United Nations and its agencies, and cooperate with other relevant actors that contribute to the overall relief effort, to maximise synergies, seek complementarities and avoid duplication and gaps; (c) liaise with all relevant actors, in particular in the closing phase of the assistance, to facilitate a smooth handover. 8. Any Member State to which a request for assistance is addressed through the Union Mechanism shall promptly determine whether it is able to render the assistance required and inform the ERCC of its decision to offer assistance through CECIS, indicating its scope and terms. The ERCC shall keep Member States informed. 9. Interventions outside of the Union under this Article may be conducted either as an autonomous assistance intervention or as a contribution to an intervention led by an international organisation. The Union coordination shall be fully integrated with the overall coordination provided by United Nations and its agencies and shall respect their leading role. In the case of human-induced disasters or complex emergencies, the Commission shall ensure consistency with the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid, and respect for humanitarian principles. 10. The Commission and the Member States shall identify and promote synergies between civil protection assistance and humanitarian aid funding provided by the Union and Member States in the planning of response operations for humanitarian crises outside the Union. EN 43 EN  11. Coordination of assistance to third countries made through the Union Mechanism shall affect neither bilateral contacts and assistance between Member States and the affected country, nor cooperation between Member States and the United Nations and other relevant international organisations. Such bilateral contacts and assistance may also be used to contribute to the coordination through the Union Mechanism and transmission to the ERCC of information about any bilateral contacts and assistance delivered to the affected country. 12. Assistance may be offered by other Union institutions, agencies, and bodies and coordinated as part of response under this Article. Article 29 Support to cross-sectoral crises 1. The Hub may be used to provide support to cross-sectoral crises where: (a) response is initiated under other Union risk management instruments; (b) in cases referred to in Article 2 (1), point (b) of Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/199331; (c) in cases referred to in Article 4 of Council Decision 2014/415/EU32; (d) support is requested by the Council; (e) in cases of public health emergency at Union level in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2022/2371 or WHO declaration of health emergencies of international concern. 2. In the cases referred to in paragraph 1, the Union support to response may cover up to 100% of the costs to reflect the scale and the impact of the crisis. 3. In the cases referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission may procure or award grants to Member States for the procurement of material means and any necessary enabling service needed to complement assistance under the Union Mechanism. 4. When the Union Mechanism provides support to response or the Hub facilitates the response initiated under other Union risk management instruments, the scope of application of those instruments shall be considered for determining the inclusion of associated countries in relation to the actions under this Chapter. Article 30 Consular assistance 1. In exceptional circumstances, the Union Mechanism may be used to provide civil protection support to consular assistance to Union citizens in disasters in third countries if requested by the Member State concerned. 31 Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1993 of 11 December 2018 on the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response Arrangements (OJ L 320, 17.12.2018, p. 28, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2018/1993/oj). 32 2014/415/EU: Council Decision of 24 June 2014 on the arrangements for the implementation by the Union of the solidarity clause (OJ L 192, 1.7.2014, p. 53, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2014/415/oj). EN 44 EN  2. The civil protection support to consular assistance shall reflect solidarity among Member States and include in particular repatriation, evacuation, and assisted departures, as well as other relief actions. 3. Union support may be scaled taking into account the plurality of nationalities of Union citizens covered by the action in question. 4. The Member State carrying out the consular assistance action may request that either passengers or Member States whose citizens are covered by the action in question, contribute to the costs related to the action. Where assistance is provided to Union citizen holding the nationality of a Member State which is not represented in a third country as set out in Article 6 of Directive (EU) 2015/637, Articles 14 and 15 of that Directive shall apply. Chapter 4 Union support to response Article 31 Union support to response 1. The Commission shall support response referred to in Article 32 by: (a) providing and sharing information on equipment and on transport and logistical resources that Member States decide to make available, with a view to facilitating the pooling of such equipment or transport and logistical resources; (b) assisting Member States to identify transport, logistical resources and equipment that may be available from other sources, including the commercial market, and facilitating their access to such resources; (c) financing transport and logistical resources, including military resources, as well as operational cost necessary for ensuring a rapid response, including where transport and logistical resources are requested by the affected country. 2. Actions referred to in Article 32 shall be eligible for Union support to response only if the following criteria are met: (a) a request for assistance has been made in accordance with Article 28; (b) the additional transport and logistical resources are necessary for ensuring the effectiveness of response; (c) the assistance corresponds to the needs identified by the ERCC and is delivered in accordance with the recommendations given by the ERCC on the technical specifications, quality, timing and modalities for delivery; (d) the assistance has been accepted by a requesting country, directly or through the United Nations or its agencies, or a relevant international organisation, under the Union Mechanism; and (e) the assistance complements, for disasters in third countries, any overall Union humanitarian response. 3. When a Member State requests the Commission to contract transport services, the Commission shall request partial reimbursement of the costs according to the funding rates set out in Annex I. EN 45 EN  Article 32 Response 1. In order to promote an effective response, the Commission shall assist the Member States offering assistance by: (a) identifying and accessing equipment, transport and logistical resources and services in the form of access to the commercial market or other sources through the Commission, such as transport services procured from private or other entities, and facilitating their access to such resources; (b) providing and sharing information on equipment, transport and logistical resources and services in the form of pooling with other Member States, and facilitating the establishment and maintenance of logistical hubs facilitating pooling; (c) supporting the transport of spontaneously offered assistance not pre-committed to the ECPP; (d) facilitating the actions allowing for medical evacuation hubs and the conducting of medical evacuation; (e) preparation for the mobilisation and deployment of experts and EUCP Teams; (f) preparation for the mobilisation and deployment of intervention teams; (g) developing and maintaining a surge capacity through a network of trained experts of Member States; (h) temporary pre-positioning and coordination of response capacities in situations of increased risk, and following the request of a Member State or a third country, and taking into account the assessment of the Commission; (i) stand-by allocation of response capacities during periods and in areas experiencing increased or recurring seasonal risks, and following the request of a Member State; (j) transport of assistance needed in environmental disasters in which the ‘polluter pays principle’ applies, to which the following conditions shall apply: (i) the Union financial support for the transport of assistance is requested by the affected or assisting Member State based on a duly justified needs assessment; (ii) the affected or assisting Member State, as appropriate, takes all necessary steps to request and obtain compensation from the polluter, in accordance with all applicable international, Union or national legal provisions; (iii) upon receiving compensation from the polluter, the affected or assisting Member State, as appropriate, shall immediately reimburse the Union. (k) undertaking additional necessary supporting and complementary action in order to facilitate the coordination of response in the most effective way. 2. In the case of transport operations of Member States from the pooling point to the final destination, a Member State shall take the lead in requesting Union support in the form of grant or facilitation of access to resources and services needed, for the entire operation. EN 46 EN  3. Costs relating to paragraph 1, points (h) and (i), shall not be eligible when covered by Host Nation Support. 4. In the event of an environmental disaster as referred to in paragraph 1, point (j), which does not affect a Member State, the actions referred to in points (j) shall be carried out by the assisting Member State. 5. The Commission may complement the transport and logistical resources provided by Member States by providing additional resources necessary for ensuring a rapid response. 6. The Commission may facilitate response by developing cartographical material for the swift deployment and mobilisation of resources, bearing in mind especially the particularities of cross-border regions for multi-country transboundary risks. 7. The Commission shall lay down rules on the deployment of experts and EUCP Teams in an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 8. When a Member State requests the Commission to contract transport services, the Commission shall request partial reimbursement of the costs according to the funding rates set out in Annex I. Article 33 Deployment of experts and EUCP Team 1. At the request of a Member State, a third country, the United Nations or its agencies or a relevant international organisation identified in accordance with Article 28(3), the Commission may select, appoint and provide support in the deployment of individual expert or EUCP Teams composed of experts nominated by Member States to provide advice on prevention or preparedness measures, or to support a common assessment of the situation and needs, facilitate coordination of assistance or provide technical advice. 2. The Union Mechanism and the capabilities of the Hub may be used to provide support to the deployment of experts or EUCP Teams in cases where the Union Mechanism is providing support in cases referred to in Article 29. Experts from the Commission and from other Union institutions, agencies, including the EU Health Task Force established in accordance with point (a) of Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 851/200433, and bodies of the Union may be integrated in the team in order to support the EUCP Team and facilitate liaison with the Hub. Experts dispatched by UN agencies or other international organisations may be integrated in the team in order to strengthen cooperation and facilitate joint assessments. 3. Where operational effectiveness so requires, the Commission, in close cooperation with Member States, may facilitate the involvement of additional experts, through their deployment, and technical and scientific support, and reach back to specialist scientific, emergency medical and sectoral expertise. 4. The procedure for the selection and appointment of experts shall be the following: 33 Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 establishing a European Centre for disease prevention and control, OJ L 142, 30.4.2004, p. 1–11. EN 47 EN  (a) Member States shall nominate experts, under their responsibility, who can be deployed as members of EUCP Teams; (b) the Commission shall select the experts and the leader for those teams on the basis of their qualifications and experience, including the level of the Union Mechanism training undertaken, previous experience of missions under the Union Mechanism and other international relief work; the selection shall also be based on other criteria, including language skills, to ensure that the team as a whole has the skills needed in the specific situation; (c) the Commission shall select experts and team leaders for the mission in agreement with their nominating Member State; (d) the Commission shall notify Member States of additional expert support provided in accordance with paragraph 3. 5. Where experts or EUCP Teams are dispatched, they shall facilitate coordination between Member States' response capacities and liaise with the competent authorities of the requesting country. The ERCC shall maintain close contact with the expert teams and provide them with guidance and logistical support. 6. The Commission shall, through the ERCC, support experts and EUCP Teams that have been selected, appointed or deployed under this Article in the preparation of a security and safety plan, by sharing its own security assessment and by providing a security briefing as part of the mission briefing. The Commission shall support the experts and EUCP Teams in the preparation of additional mitigation measures and other necessary measures before or during deployment. TITLE III HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE Article 34 Health emergency preparedness and response The Commission shall support Member States in strengthening capabilities for the prevention of, preparedness for, and response to serious-cross border threats to health, in particular through: (a) supporting data collection, information exchange, early warning and surveillance systems; (b) enhancing the availability and accessibility of medical countermeasures, including through procurement, capacity reservations as well as their stockpiling and deployment; (c) capacity building; (d) support actions for the development, implementation and monitoring, including through cooperation between national authorities and with stakeholders, and the development and deployment of the necessary tools and infrastructures, including IT infrastructures. EN 48 EN  TITLE IV FINAL PROVISIONS Article 35 Committee procedure 1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply. 3. Where the opinion of the committee is to be obtained by written procedure, that procedure shall be terminated without result when, within the time-limit for delivery of the opinion, the chair of the committee so decides or a simple majority of committee members so request. 4. In accordance with international agreements concluded by the Union, representatives of third countries and international organisations may be invited as observers in the meetings of the committee under the requirements laid down in its rules of procedure and taking into account security and public order of the Union or its Member States. Representatives of third countries or international organisations shall not participate in deliberations on matters related to the eligibility of third country entities or international organisations. Article 36 Repeal Decision No 1313/2013/EU is repealed with effect from 1 January 2028. Article 37 Transitional provisions 1. This Regulation shall not affect the continuation or modification of the actions concerned, until their closure, under Decision No 1313/2013/EU or under Regulation (EU) 2021/522, which shall continue to apply to the actions concerned until their closure. 2. The financial envelope under this Regulation may also cover technical and administrative assistance expenses necessary to ensure the transition between the Union Mechanism and the measures adopted under Decision No 1313/2013/EU or Regulation (EU) 2021/522. Article 38 Entry into force and application This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 1 January 2028. EN 49 EN  This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, For the European Parliament For the Council The President The President EN 50 EN  LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL AND DIGITAL STATEMENT 1. FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE ................................................. 3 1.1. Title of the proposal/initiative ...................................................................................... 3 1.2. Policy area(s) concerned .............................................................................................. 3 1.3. Objective(s) .................................................................................................................. 3 1.3.1. General objective(s) ..................................................................................................... 3 1.3.2. Specific objective(s) ..................................................................................................... 3 1.3.3. Expected result(s) and impact ...................................................................................... 3 1.3.4. Indicators of performance ............................................................................................ 3 1.4. The proposal/initiative relates to: ................................................................................. 4 1.5. Grounds for the proposal/initiative .............................................................................. 4 1.5.1. Requirement(s) to be met in the short or long term including a detailed timeline for roll-out of the implementation of the initiative ............................................................ 4 1.5.2. Added value of EU involvement (it may result from different factors, e.g. coordination gains, legal certainty, greater effectiveness or complementarities). For the purposes of this section 'added value of EU involvement' is the value resulting from EU action, that is additional to the value that would have been otherwise created by Member States alone. ................................................................................. 4 1.5.3. Lessons learned from similar experiences in the past .................................................. 4 1.5.4. Compatibility with the multiannual financial framework and possible synergies with other appropriate instruments ....................................................................................... 5 1.5.5. Assessment of the different available financing options, including scope for redeployment ................................................................................................................ 5 1.6. Duration of the proposal/initiative and of its financial impact .................................... 6 1.7. Method(s) of budget implementation planned ............................................................. 6 2. MANAGEMENT MEASURES................................................................................... 8 2.1. Monitoring and reporting rules .................................................................................... 8 2.2. Management and control system(s) ............................................................................. 8 2.2.1. Justification of the budget implementation method(s), the funding implementation mechanism(s), the payment modalities and the control strategy proposed .................. 8 2.2.2. Information concerning the risks identified and the internal control system(s) set up to mitigate them............................................................................................................ 8 2.2.3. Estimation and justification of the cost-effectiveness of the controls (ratio between the control costs and the value of the related funds managed), and assessment of the expected levels of risk of error (at payment & at closure) ........................................... 8 2.3. Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities ................................................................ 9 3. ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE ............ 10 3.1. Heading(s) of the multiannual financial framework and expenditure budget line(s) affected ....................................................................................................................... 10 EN 1 EN  3.2. Estimated financial impact of the proposal on appropriations ................................... 12 3.2.1. Summary of estimated impact on operational appropriations.................................... 12 3.2.1.1. Appropriations from voted budget ............................................................................. 12 3.2.1.2. Appropriations from external assigned revenues ....................................................... 17 3.2.2. Estimated output funded from operational appropriations......................................... 22 3.2.3. Summary of estimated impact on administrative appropriations ............................... 24 3.2.3.1. Appropriations from voted budget .............................................................................. 24 3.2.3.2. Appropriations from external assigned revenues ....................................................... 24 3.2.3.3. Total appropriations ................................................................................................... 24 3.2.4. Estimated requirements of human resources.............................................................. 25 3.2.4.1. Financed from voted budget....................................................................................... 25 3.2.4.2. Financed from external assigned revenues ................................................................ 26 3.2.4.3. Total requirements of human resources ..................................................................... 26 3.2.5. Overview of estimated impact on digital technology-related investments ................ 28 3.2.6. Compatibility with the current multiannual financial framework.............................. 28 3.2.7. Third-party contributions ........................................................................................... 28 3.3. Estimated impact on revenue ..................................................................................... 29 4. DIGITAL DIMENSIONS .......................................................................................... 29 4.1. Requirements of digital relevance .............................................................................. 30 4.2. Data ............................................................................................................................ 30 4.3. Digital solutions ......................................................................................................... 31 4.4. Interoperability assessment ........................................................................................ 31 4.5. Measures to support digital implementation .............................................................. 32 EN 2 EN  1. FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 1.1. Title of the proposal/initiative Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and financing of health emergency preparedness and response, and repealing Decision 1313/2013 (Union Civil Protection Mechanism) 1.2. Policy area(s) concerned Civil protection and health emergency preparedness and response. 1.3. Objective(s) 1.3.1. General objective(s) The Regulation aims at strengthening cooperation between the Union and the Member States to prevent, prepare for and respond to all kinds of natural and human- induced disasters, including health emergency preparedness and response that may occur inside or outside the Union, including situations where they impact several sectors simultaneously. It also provides funding for health preparedness and response. 1.3.2. Specific objective(s) The Regulation shall cover protection of people, environment and property, including cultural heritage, against all kinds of natural and human-induced disasters, including serious cross-border threats to health. It shall enable coordination in situations where other Union crisis management mechanisms are implemented. 1.3.3. Expected result(s) and impact Specify the effects which the proposal/initiative should have on the beneficiaries/groups targeted. As result of this proposal, the Union expected to be put in a position to better act in different phases of the disaster management cycle, namely prevention, preparedness and response, through coordinated planning and action that anticipate and mitigate risks, enhance preparedness and enable effective responses, including for health emergencies. The proposal is expected to reducing risks, strengthening the resilience of populations, infrastructure and essential services and to contribute minimising the impact of disasters, including serious cross-border threats to health. The proposal is expected to strengthen the collective operational response at Union level, support the capacity-building measures at national levels, and, thereby, foster the skills, resources and knowledge needed to manage risks, reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience to future threats. 1.3.4. Indicators of performance Specify the indicators for monitoring progress and achievements. The Regulation will be evaluated and monitored in line with the provisions laid down by the Performance Regulation, . The evaluation shall be conducted in accordance with the Commission's Better Regulation Guidelines and will be based on indicators relevant to the objectives of the programme. EN 3 EN  The Performance Regulation will further define the horizontal principles to be mainstreamed across budget programmes incuding UCPM, in line with the Financial Regulation, as well as relevant implementation provisions. Lastly, a data plan will be developed to ensure that operational data are available. Work on this has already commenced: In the beginning of 2025, DG ECHO implemented the Civil Protection Data Repository, following the UCPM evaluation, which collects operational data like deployments of capacities or stockpiling locations. 1.4. The proposal/initiative relates to:  a new action  a new action following a pilot project / preparatory action34  the extension of an existing action  a merger or redirection of one or more actions towards another/a new action 1.5. Grounds for the proposal/initiative 1.5.1. Requirement(s) to be met in the short or long term including a detailed timeline for roll-out of the implementation of the initiative European civil protection has been severely challenged by a worsening risk and threat landscape due to an increasingly volatile mix of security, health, climate change and environmental challenges. The proposal puts forward measures enabling the Union and its Member States to adapt to a broad spectrum of hazards and threats given that the number of activations of the Union Mechanism in the past years have sharply increased clearly indicating that the national systems designed to deal with the disaster and crises will continue to be strained in the future and therefore Union- level coordination Mechanism needs to be adequately equipped to act more efficiently and effectively. At the same time, in line with the Prepardeness Union Strategy, it is necessary to ensure coordination, monitoring and support of cross- sectoral operations at the Union level, in support of national efforts. For this reason, an EU Crisis Coordination Hub should be established, building on the structures and the expertise of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, which will continue its mandate supporting the Union Mechanism, and to provide a central point for operational coordination with Member States authorities, including entities authorized by the Member States, as well as Commission services. The integration of health emergency preparedness and response measures into this proposal provides an additional layer of protection of EU citizens, ultimately enhancing resilience and safeguarding the population against a wide range of health threats. 1.5.2. Added value of EU involvement (it may result from different factors, e.g. coordination gains, legal certainty, greater effectiveness or complementarities). For the purposes of this section 'added value of EU involvement' is the value resulting from EU action, that is additional to the value that would have been otherwise created by Member States alone. As crises grow more multi-dimensional and cross-border, capability gaps must be addressed at EU level - either through EU-owned capacities or coordinated efforts 34 As referred to in Article 58(2), point (a) or (b) of the Financial Regulation. EN 4 EN  among Member States. This would not only allow for better coordination of crisis response mechanisms operated at Union and national level but also ensure that EU assistance can reach all EU citizens in need, while having a longer-term positive impact to EU societies and economies. Critical capabilities, such as offered by the Galileo and Copernicus programmes, are sustainable only through collective action, creating strategic infrastructures that no Member State can achieve on its own. Moreover, Union action is necessary to build capacity for crisis response through strategic foresight, integrated risk management, enhancing capabilities for cross- border emergency response, cross sectorial integration and the elimination of knowledge gaps. 1.5.3. Lessons learned from similar experiences in the past As identified by the Evaluation of the UCPM (to which the UCPM lessons leaned programme contributed), established by the Niniistö report and further analysed in the Impact Assessment, the complexity and multifaceted nature of cross-sectoral crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine demands a comprehensive and integrated approach to crisis management, necessitating close and efficient cooperation between the Union and its Member States to effectively navigate the challenges they present. At the time this was achieved by the REACT EU package under cohesion policy. The current context of geopolitical situation necessitates the strengthening Europe’s civilian and military preparedness and readiness taking into account previous succesful coordination exercises. 1.5.4. Compatibility with the multiannual financial framework and possible synergies with other appropriate instruments Actions under the UCPM will build on synergies with other EU instruments. Notably, preparedness will be supported by reforms and investments in National and Regional Partnership Plans, which will include an unallocated thematic reserve to respond to crises. Resilience of cross-border infrastructures will continue to be driven by the Connecting Europe Facility, and by national and regional investments and reforms under the National and Regional Partnerships Plan, Interreg, and by strategic connectivity under Global Europe. The European Competitiveness Fund will enhance the EU’s preparedness and strategic autonomy in key sectors and technologies (e.g. health innovation and manufacturing). In third countries, crisis preparedness and response will continue to benefit from humanitarian aid and other tools (e.g. macro-financial assistance). Coherence between the new UCPM and preparedness-relevant work of other funds will be ensured through the wider implementation of the Preparedness Union Strategy (PUS). It also builds on the EU4Health programme and other initiatives to enhance emergency health preparedness and response, ensuring that the Union's health emergency preparedness and response. 1.5.5. Assessment of the different available financing options, including scope for redeployment EN 5 EN  1.6. Duration of the proposal/initiative and of its financial impact  limited duration –  in effect from 01/01/2018 to 31/12/2034 –  financial impact from YYYY to YYYY for commitment appropriations and from YYYY to YYYY for payment appropriations.  unlimited duration – Implementation with a start-up period from YYYY to YYYY, – followed by full-scale operation. 1.7. Method(s) of budget implementation planned  Direct management by the Commission –  by its departments, including by its staff in the Union delegations; –  by the executive agencies  Shared management with the Member States  Indirect management by entrusting budget implementation tasks to: –  third countries or the bodies they have designated –  international organisations and their agencies (to be specified) –  the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund –  bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 of the Financial Regulation –  public law bodies –  bodies governed by private law with a public service mission to the extent that they are provided with adequate financial guarantees –  bodies governed by the private law of a Member State that are entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and that are provided with adequate financial guarantees –  bodies or persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the common foreign and security policy pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on European Union, and identified in the relevant basic act – bodies established in a Member State, governed by the private law of a Member State or Union law and eligible to be entrusted, in accordance with sector-specific rules, with the implementation of Union funds or budgetary guarantees, to the extent that such bodies are controlled by public law bodies or by bodies governed by private law with a public service mission, and are provided with adequate financial guarantees in the form of joint and several liability by the controlling bodies or equivalent financial guarantees and which may be, for each action, limited to the maximum amount of the Union support. Comments In principle, the budget made available under the Regulation will be implemented through direct management. Adding the possibility to execute the budget through indirect management mode provides an additional instrument to optimise budget implementation. Given the context of civil protection EN 6 EN  policy which often deals with unpredictable events (human-induced and natural disasters), it is essential to guarantee an inclusive (in terms of actors involved) and flexible MFF framework. EN 7 EN  2. MANAGEMENT MEASURES 2.1. Monitoring and reporting rules Actions and measures receiving financial assistance under these Decisions shall be evaluated and monitored in line with the provisions laid down by the Performance Regulation. 2.2. Management and control system(s) 2.2.1. Justification of the budget implementation method(s), the funding implementation mechanism(s), the payment modalities and the control strategy proposed Financial assistance on prevention and preparedness under the Union Mechanism is spent in accordance with a multi-annual work programme adopted by the Civil Protection Committee. The Commission regularly informs the Committee on the implementation of the work programme. For matters concerning health emergency preparedness and response, the committee shall meet in a different configuration. The Regulation shall be implemented according to the terms set out by Article 32 of this Regulation. with payment modalities based on the experience built-up in the past. Based on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Union Mechanism and to ensure an effective implementation of the objectives of the Union Mechanism, the Commission intends to implement the actions in direct and indirect management by fully taking into consideration the principles of economy, efficiency and best value for money. 2.2.2. Information concerning the risks identified and the internal control system(s) set up to mitigate them The European Commission's existing internal control system applies to ensure that funds available under the Union Mechanism are used properly and in line with appropriate legislation. The current system is setup as follows: 1. The internal control team within the lead service (Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations /DG ECHO) focuses on compliance with administrative procedures and legislation in force in the area of civil protection and follows the implementation of DG ECHO’s Control Strategy. The Internal Control Framework of the Commission is also used for this purpose. 2. Regular audit of grants and contracts by external auditors, which are awarded under the civil protection budget are fully incorporated in DG ECHO annual audit plan. 3. Evaluation of overall activities by external evaluators. Actions performed may be audited by the European fraud office OLAF and the Court of Auditors. On supervision and monitoring, the extensive experience acquired by implementing the humanitarian aid instrument will be applied, with the necessary changes, to implementing the Union Mechanism under indirect management. EN 8 EN  A similar system will be set up for the health preparedness and response part under the steer of DG HERA. 2.2.3. Estimation and justification of the cost-effectiveness of the controls (ratio between the control costs and the value of the related funds managed), and assessment of the expected levels of risk of error (at payment & at closure) The estimated cost of DG ECHO’s control strategy represents 0.32% of indirect management of the 2024 budget and 0.35 % of direct management of the 2024 budget. The main components of this indicator are: – the total staff costs of DG ECHO financial and operational units multiplied by the estimated portion of time dedicated to quality assurance, control and monitoring activities; – the total resources in DG ECHO's external audit sector devoted to audits and verifications. Taking into account the low cost of such controls together with the quantifiable (corrections and recoveries) and unquantifiable (deterrent effect and quality insurance effect of controls) benefits linked to these, the Commission is able to conclude that the quantifiable and unquantifiable benefits from controls largely outweigh the limited cost of these. With regard to the entrusted entities implementing Union funding under indirect management mode, the Commission contributes up to 7% of their direct eligible costs to ensure supervision and management of the Union funding. This is confirmed by the 0.53% multi-annual residual error rate reported by the Commission in 2024 for its humanitarian aid and civil protection department 2.3. Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities The Commission's anti-fraud strategy and the anti-fraud strategies of the concerned services ensure that the Commission’s fraud risk management approach is geared to identify fraud risk areas and adequate responses. EN 9 EN  3. ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 3.1. Heading(s) of the multiannual financial framework and expenditure budget line(s) affected • New budget lines requested In order of multiannual financial framework headings and budget lines. Type of Budget line expenditure Contribution Heading of from multiannual candidate from financial Number from Diff./Non- countries other other assigned framework EFTA diff. and third revenue countries potential countries candidates 06 01 03 – Support expenditure for EU Civil Protection Mechanism and health preparedness (UCPM) Non-diff. YES YES YES NO 06 04 01 EU Civil Protection - rescEU & Diff. YES YES YES NO Health preparedness EN 10 EN  3.2. Estimated financial impact of the proposal on appropriations 3.2.1. Summary of estimated impact on operational appropriations –  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of operational appropriations –  The proposal/initiative requires the use of operational appropriations, as explained below 3.2.1.1. Appropriations from voted budget EUR million (to three decimal places) Heading of multiannual financial framework Number 2 Year Year Year Year Year Year Year TOTA L MFF 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2028- 2034 Operational appropriations Commitment 06 04 01 EU Civil Protection - rescEU & Health s (1a) pm pm pm pm pm pm pm xx preparedness (UCPM) Payments (2a) pm pm pm pm pm pm pm xx 35 Appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope of specific programmes 06 01 03 – Support expenditure for EU Civil Protection Commitment s = Payments (3) pm pm pm pm pm pm pm xx Mechanism and health preparedness (UCPM) Commitment =1a+1b+ TOTAL appropriations s 3 1,316 1,437 1,477 1,535 1,569 1,644 1,697 10,675 =2a+2b+ Payments 3 pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm Heading of multiannual financial framework 4 ‘Administrative expenditure’36 35 Technical and/or administrative assistance and expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions (former ‘BA’ lines), indirect research, direct research. 36 The necessary appropriations should be determined using the annual average cost figures available on the appropriate BUDGpedia webpage. EN 11 EN  Year Year Year Year Year Year Year TOTAL UCPM MFF 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2028-2034  Human resources xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx  Other administrative expenditure xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx TOTAL UCPM Appropriations xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx (Total TOTAL appropriations under HEADING 4 of commitments = the multiannual financial framework Total payments) EUR million (to three decimal places) Year Year Year Year Year Year Year TOTAL MFF 2028- 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2034 TOTAL xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx appropriations under Commitments HEADINGS 1 to 4 of the multiannual xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Payments financial framework 3.2.1.2. Appropriations from external assigned revenues EUR million (to three decimal places) Heading of multiannual financial framework Number 2 Year Year Year Year Year Year Year TOTAL MFF 2028-2034 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Operational appropriations EN 12 EN  Commitme xx xx xx xx xx xx xx UCPM 06 04 nts (1a) xx 01 Payments (2a) xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope of specific programmesions of an administrative nature financed from the envelope of specific programmes3738 UCPM 06 01 xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx 03 Support expenditure for EU Civil Commitme Protection nts = (3) Mechanism Payments and health preparedness (UCPM) TOTAL xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Commitme appropriatio nts =1a+1b+3 ns for UCPM xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx under Heading 2 of the Payments =2a+2b+3 multiannual financial framework 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 • TOTAL xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Commitments (4) operational appropriations (all Payments (5) xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx operational 37 38 Technical and/or administrative assistance and expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions (former ‘BA’ lines), indirect research, direct research. EN 13 EN  headings) • TOTAL appropriations of an xx xx xx xx xx xx xx administrative nature financed from (6) xx the envelope for specific programmes (all operational headings) TOTAL xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx appropriations Commitments =4+6 under Headings 1 to 3 of the multiannual xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx financial framework Payments =5+6 (Reference amount) Heading of multiannual financial framework 4 ‘Administrative expenditure’ EUR million (to three decimal places) Year Year Year Year Year Year Year TOTAL MFF UCPM 2028- 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2034  Human resources xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx  Other administrative expenditure xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx UCPM Appropriations (Total TOTAL appropriations under HEADING 4 of commitments = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 the multiannual financial framework Total payments) EN 14 EN  Year Year Year Year Year Year Year TOTAL MFF 2028- 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2034 TOTAL appropriations under Commitments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 HEADINGS 1 to 4 of the multiannual financial framework Payments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.2.2. Estimated output funded from operational appropriations (not to be completed for decentralised agencies) Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to three decimal places) Year Year Year Year Enter as many years as necessary to show the TOTAL 2028 2029 2030 2031 duration of the impact (see Section1.6) Indicate objectives and OUTPUTS outputs Avera Type39 Total Total No No No No No No No  ge Cost Cost Cost Cost Cost Cost Cost No cost cost SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 140… - Output - Output - Output Subtotal for specific objective No 1 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 2 ... 39 Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g. number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.). 40 As described in Section 1.3.2. ‘Specific objective(s)’ EN 15 EN  - Output Subtotal for specific objective No 2 TOTALS EN 16 EN  3.2.3. Summary of estimated impact on administrative appropriations –  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of appropriations of an administrative nature –  The proposal/initiative requires the use of appropriations of an administrative nature, as explained below 3.2.3.1. Appropriations from voted budget TOTAL VOTED APPROPRIATIONS Year Year Year Year Year Year Year 2028 - 2034 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 HEADING 4 Human resources 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 348,803 Other administrative expenditure tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd Subtotal HEADING 4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Outside HEADING 4 Human resources 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 21,210 Other expenditure of an administrative tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd nature Subtotal outside HEADING 4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 TOTAL 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 370,01 3.2.3.2. Appropriations from external assigned revenues N/A 3.2.3.3. Total appropriations TOTAL VOTED Year Year Year Year Year Year Year APPROPRIATIONS TOTAL + 2028 - EXTERNAL 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2034 ASSIGNED REVENUES HEADING 4 Human resources 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 48,829 348,80 Other administrative tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd expenditure Subtotal HEADING 4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Outside HEADING 4 Human resources 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 3,030 21,210 Other expenditure of an tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd administrative nature Subtotal outside 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 HEADING 4 TOTAL 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 52,859 370,013 EN 17 EN  3.2.4. Estimated requirements of human resources –  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human resources –  The proposal/initiative requires the use of human resources, as explained below 3.2.4.1. Financed from voted budget Estimate to be expressed in full-time equivalent units (FTEs) Year Year Year Year Year Year Year VOTED APPROPRIATIONS 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034  Establishment plan posts (officials and temporary staff) 20 01 02 01 (Headquarters and Commission’s Representation 213 213 213 213 213 213 213 Offices) • External staff (in FTEs) 20 02 01 (AC, END from the 85 85 85 85 85 85 85 ‘global envelope’) Admin. Support - at 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 line (xx) Headquarters TOTAL 328 328 328 328 328 328 328 3.2.4.2. Financed from external assigned revenues N/A 3.2.4.3. Total requirements of human resources TOTAL VOTED APPROPRIATIONS Year Year Year Year Year Year Year + EXTERNAL ASSIGNED REVENUES 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034  Establishment plan posts (officials and temporary staff) 20 01 02 01 (Headquarters and Commission’s Representation 213 213 213 213 213 213 213 Offices) • External staff (in full time equivalent units) 20 02 01 (AC, END from the 85 85 85 85 85 85 85 ‘global envelope’) Admin. Support - at 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 line (xx) Headquarters TOTAL 328 328 328 328 328 328 328 The number of staff implementing the Union Civil Protection Mechanism as well as the health preparedness and response component of EU4Health is currently 285 FTE (205 within DG ECHO and 80 within DG HERA). The current level of staffing is decomposed as follows: 170 officials and temporary staff under Heading 4 (20 01 02 01 - Headquarters and Representation offices) 85 external staff under Heading 4 (20 02 01 and 20 02 02 – External personnel – Headquarters and Representation offices) EN 18 EN  30 staff under the external assigned revenue to be budgeted under the BA line in the new MFF However, this staffing level will have to be calibrated to the overall ambition and budget allocated to the UCPM+ instrument and the new actions stemming from the Preparedness Union Strategy in order to deliver on this ambitious agenda. It is estimated that a 15% increase of the staff level will be needed, bringing the staffing level to 328 posts, to cover for new activities and tasks to be implemented under the new instrument such as: Increased activities due to increased number and intensity of disasters41. Implementing preparedness by design, monitoring the mainstreaming of preparedness across relevant policies. Implementation of the second layer, going beyond the current UCPM, related to cross sectoral preparedness and response layer. Two key initiatives DG ECHO would need to deliver on would require considerable HR resources: 1. The EU crisis coordination hub The creation of the EU crisis coordination hub, building on the structures and expertise of the ERCC, is an important deliverable. The objective of the Hub is to continue and further upscale support to Member States in managing the cross-sectoral consequences of crises, based on reinforced planning and more comprehensive analysis and situational awareness. While fully respecting subsidiarity, national competences, and the specificities of Member States, the Hub will: work towards a common understanding at all levels of crises and their implications for various sectors and the entire population facilitate work across the sectors by providing crisis-management support to the lead services without taking over sectoral responsibilities; and monitor the overall response to crises while ensuring constant feedback to the Council, including through the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) mechanism. The creation of the Hub will go together with efforts to enhance civil-military cooperation during, and in preparation for, large-scale, cross-sectoral incidents and crises, including armed aggression. It will also support the work towards a European Civil Defence Mechanism 42. The Hub will ensure cross-sectoral coordination, in preparedness and response, between a variety of stakeholders, including the Commission services, Member States, Council, the EEAS/Crisis Response Centre in relation to its competences, and international partners, namely NATO. 2. Preparedness by Design 41 JRC report ”An analysis of current and emerging risks” 42 The notion of a Civil Defence Mechanism is without prejudice to the terminology used by MS for instruments or mechanisms that have comparable content to what is referred to in the Strategy as Civil Defence Mechanism. EN 19 EN  The EU Preparedness Union Strategy introduces a new guiding principle for the design of EU policies : preparedness by design. This means assessing how initiatives affect preparedness from the outset. The significance of this approach is underscored by its dual role in the Strategy as both a core principle and a dedicated key action. This calls for proactive and sustained implementation efforts. To have real impact, preparedness by design requires mainstreaming preparedness through deliberate and early consideration of preparedness factors in planning and decision-making, rather than relying solely on post-hoc assessments. Effective implementation will also depend on robust monitoring of the initiative's development and active support for its dissemination at national and regional levels. Embedding preparedness into our policy framework is not only about reducing future risks, it is also a smart investment. A recent study examining over 70 preparedness initiatives across the EU found that for every euro invested, the return ranged from two to ten euros. Investing in preparedness now means fewer disruptions, lower recovery costs, and enhanced long-term resilience and competitiveness. Allocating appropriate budgets and resources today will help save lives and save money tomorrow. Next to these 2 initiatives, additional human resources will be necessary to deliver on the other new actions stemming from the Preparedness Union Strategy, including: Increased foresight and anticipation: setting up the ‘crisis dashboard’ for decision makers; strengthening the analytical capacity and early warning systems of the ERCC, and producing regular operational outlook briefings on cross-sectoral, all-hazard risks as well as analysis their cascading effects (key action) Population Preparedness: increasing the awareness of population of risks including for elderly, youth and people with disabilities Crisis response: boosting rescEU- the EU-level reserve of response capacities; implementing the stockpiling strategy and adopting guidelines for the ‘stress testing’ of emergency response and crises centres across the EU. The significant increase of operational activities will consequently also require reinforcement of support functions (legal support, implementation of financial and control activities, IT, etc.). DG HERA will be in charge of the implementation of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response part. With an extended mandate as described under the MCM strategy COM(2025)xxx of 16 July 2025, a reinforced staff allocation will be required. 3.2.5. Overview of estimated impact on digital technology-related investments. TOTAL TOTAL Digital Year Year Year Year Year Year Year MFF and IT 2028 - appropriations 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2034 HEADING 4 IT expenditure 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 18,83 (corporate) Subtotal 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 2,69 18,83 HEADING 4 EN 20 EN  Outside HEADING 47 Policy IT expenditure on 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 84,00 operational programmes Subtotal outside 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 12,00 84,00 HEADING 4 TOTAL 14,69 14,69 14,69 14,69 14,69 14,69 14,69 102,83 3.2.6. Compatibility with the current multiannual financial framework The initiative is consistent with the proposal for the MFF 2028-2034. 3.2.7. Third-party contributions The proposal/initiative: –  does not provide for co-financing by third parties –  provides for the co-financing by third parties estimated below: Appropriations in EUR million (to three decimal places) Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Total 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Specify the co- financing body TOTAL appropriations co-financed 3.3. Estimated impact on revenue –  The proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue. –  The proposal/initiative has the following financial impact: –  on own resources –  on other revenue –  please indicate, if the revenue is assigned to expenditure lines EUR million (to three decimal places) EN 21 EN  Appropriations Impact of the proposal/initiative43 available for Budget revenue line: the current Year Year Year Year Year Year Year financial year 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Article …………. 4. DIGITAL DIMENSIONS 4.1. Requirements of digital relevance Actor affected Reference to Requirement or concerned High-level the Category description by the Processes requirement requirement UCPM Member Information 14. Member States States and Participating management; shall be informed of notification; Situational Article 23 + 29 the operational status States; situational awareness of rescEU capacities rescEU focal awareness through CECIS points; ERCC 1. In the event of a disaster within the Union, or of an imminent disaster, which causes or is capable of causing multi-country transboundary effects emergency or affects or is capable UCPM Member response; of affecting other States and notification; Crisis Article 29 Member States, the Participating information management Member State in States; management; which the disaster ERCC occurs or is likely to occur shall, without delay, notify the potentially affected Member States and the Commission. The notification to the Commission shall not 43 As regards traditional own resources (customs duties, sugar levies), the amounts indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 20% for collection costs. EN 22 EN  be required where the obligation of notification has already been addressed under other Union legislation, under the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community or under existing international agreements. 2. In the event of a disaster within the Union, or of an imminent disaster, which is likely to result in a call for assistance from one or more Member States, the Member State in which the disaster occurs or is likely to occur shall, without delay, notify the Commission that a possible request for assistance through the ERCC can be expected, in order to enable the Commission, as appropriate, to inform the other Member States and to activate its competent services. 3. The notifications referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall, as appropriate, be made through CECIS. 8. Any Member State UCPM Member request to which a request for States and management; Emergency assistance is addressed Participating emergency response, Article 30 through the Union States; response; Assistance Mechanism shall notification; coordination ERCC promptly determine information EN 23 EN  whether it is able to management render the assistance required and inform the ERCC of its decision to offer assistance through CECIS, indicating its scope and terms. The ERCC shall keep Member States informed. Article 26 1. The Commission UCPM Member System System shall adopt States and development; development implementing acts on Participating data the following matters: States; management; (b) the components of ERCC CECIS as well as the organisation of information sharing through CECIS; Article 22 and 1. (b) progress in UCPM Member Readiness Emergency 23 increasing the level of States and assessment; response readiness for disasters: Participating capacity measured by the States; management; number of response rescEU focal crisis capacities registered in management points; the European Civil Protection Pool taking ERCC into account the capacity goals referred to in Article 7(1)(f), the number of response capacities registered in the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) and the number of rescEU capacities established to provide assistance in overwhelming situations; ANNEX I (b) manage CECIS to UCPM Member System Emergency enable communication States and management; response Section IV and sharing of Participating information information between States; management; EN 24 EN  the ERCC and the ERCC crisis Member States’ management contact points; (w) support Member States, upon their request, in respect of disasters happening within their territories by providing the possibility of using European scientific partnerships for targeted scientific analysis. The resulting analyses may be shared via CECIS, with the agreement of the affected Member States. (x) Contribute to the development of transnational detection, early warning and alert systems of European interest, in order to enable a rapid response as well as to promote the inter- linkage between national early warning and alert systems and their linkage to the ERCC and the CECIS shall be eligible for Union financial assistance. These systems shall take into account and build upon existing and future information, monitoring or detection sources and systems; Article 35 The ATHINA Commission, Data Health platform aims at Member States, management preparedness EN 25 EN  making use and stakeholders and response complementing (incl. Industry) existing epidemic intelligence resources by combining intelligence on health threats and on medical countermeasures. The platform intends to collect information from producers and Member States on production and stockpiles of crisis- relevant raw materials, as well as on equipment and infrastructure. The platform will cover strict security requirements to facilitate the exchange of information with other secured platforms while preserving the integrity of the whole IT architecture, including robustness to cyber threats and the protection of commercial data. 4.2. Data Type of data Reference to the Standard and/or requirement(s) specification (if applicable) User management: Article 36.1 User roles and privileges, data about roles and associated privileges which define access and operational control in the system. Personal data of Experts: Article 20.8; Article sTESTA connection 38.1(b) Contact details, expertise/trainings, languages, vaccinations, EUCPT EN 26 EN  category/skills/roles Operational data for Article 14.14; Article sTESTA connection resources/modules/capacities 38.1(b) (including rescEU and ECPP) Composition details, availability, stockpiles, deployment history Emergency details: Article 19; Article sTESTA connection / 20.8, Annex I Section accessible as read only on Affected regions, types of hazard, IV regular internet for synopsis, activation level, requested authorised users. assistance details, offered assistance details, logbook messages and notifications, operational maps, documents… Data flows Type of data Reference(s) Actor who Actor Trigger for Frequency to the provides who the data (if requirement(s the data receives exchange applicable ) the data ) Disaster Article 29 Member UCPM Event of a N/A notification states/ERCC users disaster or imminent disaster Request for Article 30 Member UCPM Request for N/A Assistance states/ERCC users assistance through the UCPM Assistance Offer Article 30 Member UCPM Availability to N/A states/ERCC users offer assistance Acceptance and Article 30 Member UCPM The assistance N/A deployment states/ERCC users offered phase matches the assistance requested Closure and Article 30 ERCC UCPM Upon request N/A reporting users or after a maximum period of 90 days EN 27 EN  Resource Article 22 Member UCPM Mandatory N/A registration States/ERC users step in order C to be offered as a part of the assistance delivered Resource update Article 22; Member UCPM When there N/A Article 23; States/ERC users are changes to Article 27 C a resource's characteristics , such as its availability, capabilities, capacity, or contact information Organisation/use Article 36.1 Member UCPM Upon request N/A r access request States/ERC Privilege to stablish the C d users user structure in CECIS 4.3. Digital solutions Use of AI Digita Reference(s) How is How is technolog l to the Main mandated Responsi accessibilit reusability ies (if solutio requirement functionalities ble body y catered considered? applicabl n (s) for? e) CECI Article 3; Resource DG CECIS Potential N/A S Registration and ECHO has been reusability Article 23; Management: to A.1 designed for future Article 29; register, manage, to interoperabil Article 30; and update exclusivel ity with information on y operate other ANNEX I resources on platforms Section IV available by TESTA. (EWRS, Member States. A limited ECMP…) version Emergency exist on Management: to regular support internet to emergency provide management real time activities, informatio including: n in read 1. Incident only mode Reporting to CECIS EN 28 EN  2. Situation users on Awareness the field. 3. Emergency For Response UCPM Planning Participati ng States Request and without Offer TESTA, Management: to the ERCC manage requests will act on for assistance and their offers of behalf resources, encoding including the the data. ability to create, update, and cancel requests and offers. Deployment and Tracking: to track the deployment of resources, including their location, status, and availability. Communication and Collaboration: to facilitate communication and collaboration between Member States, the ERCC, and other stakeholders, sharing information and coordinating responses. Data Analytics and Reporting: to provide data analytics and reporting capabilities, including the ability to generate reports. Security and EN 29 EN  Access Control: to ensure the security and integrity of the platform, including the ability to control access to sensitive information and resources. Integration with Other Systems: to integrate with other systems and platforms, including existing emergency management systems and early warning systems. For each digital solution, explain how the digital solution complies with the requirements and obligations of the EU cybersecurity framework, and other applicable digital policies and legislative enactments (such as eIDAS, Single Digital Gateway, etc.). Digital solution #1 Digital and/or sectorial Explanation on how it aligns policy (when these are applicable) AI Act N/A EU Cybersecurity framework Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Member States shall ensure the security, integrity, authenticity and confidentiality of the data collected and stored for the purpose of this Directive. eIDAS EU Login Single Digital Gateway and N/A IMI Others 4.4. Interoperability assessment 4.5. Measures to support digital implementation Description of the Reference(s) to the Commission Actors to be Expected measure EN 30 EN  requirement(s) role involved timeline (if applicable) (if (if applicable) applicable) Establishment of a Article 36.1(b) Organization UCPM N/A CECIS User Working and MS/PS Group (WG) to facilitation of onboard Member meetings, States (MS) and providing Participating States technical (PS) into the new expertise and CECIS, providing guidance as updates on the needed. application and facilitating joint decision-making. EN 31 EN  EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 16.7.2025 COM(2025) 548 final ANNEX ANNEX to the REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and financing of health emergency preparedness and response, and repealing Decision No 1313/2013/EU (Union Civil Protection Mechanism) {SEC(2025) 545 final} - {SWD(2025) 545 final} - {SWD(2025) 546 final} EN EN  Annex SECTION 1 POSSIBLE ELIGIBLE PREVENTION ACTIONS (NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST) Actions meeting the objective laid down in point (a) of Article 4(2): (a) Co-financing of projects, studies, workshops, surveys, peer reviews and similar actions and activities; (b) Supporting Member States in developing and making publicly available risk assessments, assessments of risk management capabilities, and risk management planning at national or appropriate sub-national level; (c) Actions to facilitate access, sharing and improving the knowledge base on disaster risks, including the uptake of scientific research and innovation results, best practices and information, common interests with third countries and international organisations, risk assessments, mapping activities and risk management activities of Member States; (d) In line with international commitments, supporting Member States in improving the collection of disaster loss data at national or at the appropriate sub-national level; (e) Supporting Member States to improve cross-sectoral disaster risk management planning at Union level; (f) Supporting Member States in awareness-raising, public information and education, and their efforts in the provision of public information on alert systems, including on a cross-border level; (g) Supporting Member States in developing Union disaster resilience goals in the area of civil protection; (h) Taking additional supporting and complementary prevention action necessary to achieve the objective specified in point (a) of Article 4(2). SECTION 2 POSSIBLE ELIGIBLE CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIONS (NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST) Actions meeting the objective laid down in point (b) of Article 4(2): (a) Actions facilitating the processing and disseminating of knowledge, lessons learnt, and information relevant to the Union Mechanism, including through dedicated online tools; (b) Technical and financial assistance programmes, including grants; (c) Setting up and managing training and exercises programmes for civil protection, prevention, preparedness and response planning to serious cross-border threats to health, including the management of medical countermeasures, civil – military cooperation, and an exchange of experts programme for civil protection and disaster management personnel; (d) Setting up and managing a programme on uptake of research and innovation results, and encouraging the introduction and use of relevant EN 1 EN  new approaches or technologies or both for the purpose of the Union Mechanism including their acquisition; (e) Taking additional supporting and complementary prevention action necessary to achieve the objective specified in point (b) of Article 4(2). SECTION 3 POSSIBLE ELIGIBLE PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS (NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST) Actions meeting the objective laid down in point (c) of Article 4(2): (a) Managing the ERCC and its tools, including CECIS; (b) Working with Member States to develop and integrate transnational detection and early warning systems of Union interest in order to mitigate the immediate effects of disasters; (c) Working with Member States on the development of tools providing public information on ongoing alerts in Europe; (d) Working with Member States to maintain and further develop situational awareness and analysis capability, including scientific and technical advisory expertise, and translate scientific information into operational information; (e) Working with Member States to monitor disasters and, where relevant, climate change impacts, and provide advice based on scientific knowledge thereof; (f) Working with Member States to create, maintain and develop European scientific partnerships to cover natural and man-made hazards, promote the linkage between national early warning and alert systems and the linkage of such systems with the ERCC and other relevant IT systems; (g) Supporting the efforts of Member States and mandated international organisations with scientific knowledge, uptake of innovative technologies and expertise; (h) Facilitating the coordination of the Member States’ pre-positioning of disaster response capacities inside the Union; (i) Positioning and coordinating response capacities at the request of a Member State, including for the purpose of training, exercises, exchange of knowledge and improving interoperability of capacities and intervention teams; (j) Supporting efforts to improve the interoperability of modules and other response capacities, taking into account best practices at the level of the Member States and at international level; (k) Taking, within its sphere of competence, the necessary actions to facilitate host nation support, including developing and updating, together with Member States, guidelines on host nation support, on the basis of operational experience; (l) Supporting Member States, upon their request, in respect of disasters happening within their territories by providing the possibility of using European scientific partnerships for targeted scientific analysis. The EN 2 EN  resulting analyses may be shared via CECIS, with the agreement of the affected Member States; (m) Undertaking actions relating to the development and deployability of the European Civil Protection Pool, which may be funded at a rate of up to 100%, including the covering of: (i) training and exercise costs, including for military personnel, (ii) registration and certification costs, (iii) adaptation costs for the upgrade or repair of ECPP response capacities, which includes costs related to operability, interoperability of modules and other response capacities, autonomy, self-sufficiency, transportability, packaging, security and other necessary costs, provided that they specifically relate to the participation in the European Civil Protection Pool. (n) Undertaking actions relating to the development, maintenance and deployability of rescEU, which may be funded at a rate of up to 100%, including the covering of: (i) equipment, (ii) maintenance, including repair, (iii) insurance, (iv) training, (v) warehousing, (vi) registration and certification, (vii) consumables, (viii) personnel required to ensure the availability and deployability of rescEU capacities. (o) Taking additional supporting and complementary prevention action necessary to achieve the objective specified in point (c) of Article 4(2). SECTION 4 POSSIBLE ELIGIBLE RESPONSE ACTIONS (NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST) (1) Actions meeting the objective laid down in point (d) of Article 4(2), which may be funded at a rate of up to 75%: (a) transportation of spontaneously offered assistance not registered in the European Civil Protection Pool or rescEU needed to respond to a disaster; (b) access to equipment, transport and logistical resources and services in the form of access to the commercial market or other sources through the Commission, such as transport services procured from private or other entities; (c) civil protection support to consular assistance to the citizens of the Union in disasters in third countries, while the final co-financing rate shall be progressive and depending on number of different EU citizens on board. EN 3 EN  (2) Actions meeting the objective laid down point (d) of Article 4(2), which may be funded at a rate of up to 100%: (a) access to equipment, transport and logistical resources and services in the form of access to the commercial market or other sources offered by the Member States, such as transport services procured from private or other entities; (b) access to transport and logistical resources, where this is necessary to make the pooling of Member States’ assistance or rescEU operationally effective and where the costs relate to one or more of the following: (i) short-term warehousing or longer-term logistical capacity to temporarily store and manage the assistance from Member States with a view to facilitating their coordinated transport, (ii) transport and logistics from the Member State providing the assistance to the point where coordinated transport is taking place, (iii) coordination, handing, and repackaging of Member States’ assistance to make maximum use of available transport capacities or to meet specific operational requirements, (iv) local transport, and transit of pooled assistance with a view to ensuring a coordinated delivery at the final destination in the affected country, (v) transport of the pooled assistance from the point where the pooling action takes place to final destination in the affected country, (c) transport of spontaneously offered assistance not registered in the European Civil Protection Pool needed to respond to a crisis, as set out in Article 29(3) ; (d) transport offered by Member States, including through military resources, of any assistance needed to respond to a disaster or crisis in exceptional and duly justified cases, where no commercial transport offers are available; (e) activities necessary to organise transport for the conducting of medical evacuation, where the costs relate to one of the following: (i) transport of the patient, including its companions, caregivers or legal guardians from the affected country to the transit medical facility or medevac hub, including local transport and transit, (ii) use or establishing and managing facilities for reception and stabilisation of patients, including operational costs related to medical equipment and to staff necessary to subsequent transport of patients, (iii) operational costs of essential staff accompanying the medical evacuation including deployment of assessment medical teams, (iv) procurement of medical supplies and consumables, access to equipment for the use in the hubs or during the medical evacuation. (f) facilitating transport for the purpose of temporary pre-positioning and coordination of response capacities. EN 4 EN  (g) facilitating transport and other cost for the purpose of stand-by allocation and coordination of response capacities during periods of increased seasonal risk; (h) undertaking additional necessary supporting and complementary action in order to facilitate the coordination of response in the most effective way; (i) taking additional supporting and complementary prevention action necessary to achieve the objective specified in point (d) of Article 4(2); (3) Actions meeting the objective laid down in point (d) of Article 4(2), which may be funded at a rate of up to 100%: (a) facilitating transport and supporting the operation of registered ECPP capacities; (b) facilitating transport and supporting the operation of rescEU capacities; (c) preparing for the mobilisation and dispatch of the expert teams referred to in Article 33(1) and developing and maintaining a surge capacity through a network of trained experts of Member States; (d) ensuring the availability of technical and logistical support, including the deployment of TAST, for experts and expert teams referred to in Article 33(1). SECTION 5 POSSIBLE ELIGIBLE CROSS-SECTORAL RESPONSE TO CRISIS ACTIONS (NON- EXHAUSTIVE LIST) Actions meeting the objective laid down in point (e) of Article 4(2): any response action or additional supporting and complementary action necessary to respond to a crisis. EN 5 EN