EU: improved civil protection in force

Specifically, the modernized EU Civil Protection Mechanism a new European capacity reserve that includes forest firefighting aircraft, high-capacity pumps, urban search and rescue capabilities, field hospitals and emergency medical teams. The system rescEU may also be activated in the future to respond to medical, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear emergencies.

Forest fire season begins soon

"rescEU means having a much stronger, Europe-wide civil protection system. I am very grateful to our Member States in the Council of the EU and the European Parliament for their overwhelming support over the past months. With the next forest fire season only a few months away, our EU Emergency Response Center is working around the clock with Member States to make rescEU operational," said Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.

To ensure that Europe is prepared for this year's forest fire season, he said, the new legislation will provide for a transition period during which participating states can receive funding to make their firefighting resources available to the EU.

Numerous disasters have struck all regions of Europe in recent years, causing hundreds of casualties and billions in infrastructure damage. To better protect citizens and get relief material to the crisis region faster, the European Parliament, EU member states and the Commission agreed last December to strengthen the existing EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Source: Representation of the European Commission in Germany