Brussels, 26/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - European reaction to natural and man-made disasters, both inside Europe and elsewhere in the world, has to be quicker, more effective and more visible. There has been much talk on this issue over many years with floods, oil spills, earthquakes, toxic mud and more, but the 2006 Barnier report, which proposed setting up a European civil protection force based on pooling member states' resources, is still on the shelf, much to the chagrin of the European Parliament.
With its new communication, “Towards a stronger European disaster response: the role of civil protection and humanitarian assistance”, the European Commission has begun to respond to expectations. Planning baseline scenarios, determining in advance the tasks of member states, improving cooperation, developing a holistic approach to prevention, preparation, action and de-briefing, and better communication on what is being done are, the Commission believes, the ingredients of a recipe for success in civil response to crises.
All this was announced by International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva at the European Parliament when she gave MEPs an initial report on the situation in flood-devastated Pakistan and on the European response to this crisis (see EUROPE 10210). She hopes, this time, that member states will accept the Commission recommendations, especially since 90% of European citizens expect the EU to do more for victims of disasters both at home and throughout the world. In an average year, there are 85,000 deaths, 230 million people affected, €60 billion in damages and five times more disasters than 30 years ago, the commissioner said, talking about the very heavy cost on the human, economic and environmental levels of disasters which are becoming frequent due to the combined effect of climate change, industrial activity, population growth and concentration in urban areas - and also terrorism. The stakes are, indeed, high.
European Emergency Response Centre. To make deployment of aid more effective and cheaper - as the budget crisis bites - the EU will have to make better use of the resources at its disposal in the two complementary areas of humanitarian aid and civil protection, which the Lisbon Treaty brought under one umbrella. The Barnier report had already recommended just such a move.
The communication adopted by the written procedure on Tuesday 26 October recommends setting up a European Emergency Response Capacity through the pooling in advance of member states' emergency resources (equipment, material, human resources, etc.) so that the Commission knows the means it can count on in order to respond swiftly to a call for assistance. This is, in Georgieva's view, “the most important innovation”.
The Commission has no way of predicting what resources member states will make available, Georgieva said. She argued that there has to be shift from ad hoc reaction to pre-planned reaction so that assistance can be deployed in the hours following a request for help. She said the Commission wanted to identify the capabilities that member states were prepared to share, prior commitments and wide-ranging cooperation. Ultimately, the Commission aspired to the creation in 2011 of a genuine European emergency reaction centre from merging humanitarian aid crisis (ECHO) and civil protection centres (MIC, monitoring and information centre, the central body in the EU's civil protection system). In operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the new centre would pool expertise and gather information in real time, monitor risk situations, issue early warning bulletins and coordinate EU civil reaction to disasters.
The immediate deployment of the resources needed pre-supposes that emergency plans are put in place and the logistical means for the coordinated transport of the aid identified.
Better communication. So that it can have visibility in line with its position as the largest donor of humanitarian aid, the EU will have to learn to communicate what it does, not just for the pleasure of communicating but to be more effective, Georgieva acknowledged. It would be useful, too, she said, to consider amending the way the Solidarity Fund operates. It is not a response fund and, therefore, does not allow up to €5 million for disaster victims in, for example, Romania within 72 hours, when the ECHO emergency procedure allows this to happen for disaster victims in third countries.
It will be for High Representative Catherine Ashton and Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to set out the “security and external policy” aspects of the EU's rapid reaction to crises. “I will coordinate all this with my colleagues,” Georgieva said. (A.N./transl.rt)