Commission Decision of 20 December 2007 amending Decision 2004/277/EC, Euratom as regards rules for the implementation of Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom establishing a Community civil protection mechanism (notified under document number C(2007) 6464) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/73/EC, Euratom)

Article 1

Decision 2004/277/EC, Euratom is amended as follows:

1.

In Article 2, the following definitions are added:

‘(c)

“intervention teams” means the human and material resources including civil protection modules (as referred to in Articles 3a, 3b and 3c) set-up by the Member States for civil protection interventions.

(d)

“technical assistance support teams” means the human and material resources set-up by the Member States to fulfil support tasks.’

2.

The following Articles 3a, 3b, and 3c are inserted:

‘Article 3a

1. Subject to the development of additional modules, civil protection modules shall be in accordance with the general requirements listed in Annex II.

2. Technical assistance support teams shall be in accordance with the general requirements listed in Annex III.

3. Civil protection modules as well as technical assistance support teams may be composed of resources provided by one or more Member States.

4. Where a civil protection module or a technical assistance support team are composed of more than one component, the deployment of that civil protection module or technical assistance support team in an intervention may be limited to the components necessary for that intervention.

Article 3b

1. The following elements of self-sufficiency shall apply to the individual civil protection modules as specified in Annex II:

(a) appropriate shelter for the prevailing weather;

(b) power generation and lighting covering the consumption of the base of operation and of the equipment required to fulfil the mission;

(c) sanitation and hygiene facilities destined for the personnel of the module;

(d) availability of food and water for the personnel of the module;

(e) medical or paramedical staff, facilities and supplies for the personnel of the module;

(f) equipment storage and maintenance of the equipment of the module;

(g) equipment for the communication with the relevant partners, notably those in charge of the coordination on site;

(h) local transportation;

(i) logistics, equipment and staff enabling the setting-up of a base of operations and the beginning of the mission without delay upon arrival on site.

2. Compliance with the self-sufficiency requirements shall be guaranteed by the offering Member State by any of the following:

(a) including in the civil protection module the necessary staff, equipments and consumables;

(b) making the necessary arrangements on the site of operations;

(c) making the necessary prearrangements to combine a non self-sufficient intervention team with a technical assistance support team in order to comply with the requirements referred to in Article 3c prior to the provision of information on the civil protection module concerned in accordance with Article 3(1).

3. The period for which self-sufficiency must be guaranteed at the onset of the mission may not be shorter than either of the following:

(a) 96 hours;

(b) the periods laid down in Annex II for specific civil protection modules.

Article 3c

The Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the following requirements are met:

(a)

civil protection modules have the capability to operate with other civil protection modules;

(b)

technical assistance support teams have the capability to operate with other technical assistance support teams and with civil protection modules;

(c)

components of a civil protection module have the capability to operate together as one civil protection module;

(d)

components of a technical assistance support team have the capability to operate together as one technical assistance support team;

(e)

civil protection modules and technical assistance support teams, when deployed outside the EU, are able to operate with international disaster response capabilities supporting the affected state;

(f)

team leaders, deputy team leaders and liaison officers of civil protection modules and technical assistance support teams participate in appropriate training courses and exercises organised by the Commission in accordance with Article 5(5) of Decision 2007/NNN/EC, Euratom.’

3.

In Article 11(1), the term ‘Annex’ is replaced by the term ‘Annex I’.

4.

In Article 24, the following point (e) is added:

‘(e)

enhancing the interoperability of civil protection modules.’

5.

In the title of the Annex, the term ‘Annex’ is replaced by the term ‘Annex I’.

6.

Annex II, as set out in Annex I to this Decision, is added.

7.

Annex III, as set out in Annex II to this Decision, is added.