Civil protection: Community action programme 1998-1999

This proposal for a decision aimed to establish a Community action programme in the field of civil protection. The programme's objective was to help protect persons, the environment and property in the event of natural or technological disasters. It was drawn up in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity (the idea was to complement and accompany the initiatives undertaken by the Member States rather than to replace the action of the Member States in this area) and had three main goals: - to help increase the level of preparation of those responsible for civil protection in the Member States in order to increase their ability to respond to an emergency; - to use pilot projects to help improve intervention techniques and methods; - to help promote public information, education and awareness in Europe in order to help citizens to protect themselves more effectively. An annex to the proposal detailed the type of actions financed and gave an indication of the allocation of resources to each action: - increase in the level of preparation of those responsible for civil protection: training (organisation of workshops bringing together senior experts from the Member States), exchanges of experts between Member States (training for a limited period of time in another Member State), secondment of one or several qualified training officers to undertake training modules, Community simulation exercises (comparison of the various means of intervention in the Member States with a view to improving effectiveness); - pilot projects to help improve the ability of the Member States to respond in the event of an emergency; - greater public information, education and awareness: exchanges between Member States of particularly effective measures to raise awareness, with emphasis on actions targeted at young people undergoing initial training or still at school, funding for travelling exhibitions and the distribution of information; - other actions: conferences, seminars directed at large audiences, actions having a direct impact on other Member States; - rapid mobilisation of experts to strengthen the emergency arrangements put in place in the Member States or third countries following a natural, technological or environmental disaster; - additional actions further to those provided for in the programme could also be envisaged if the necessary financial resources were available. As regards the budget, the Commission allocated the programme a financial envelope of ECU 13.8 million for the period 1996-2000. In implementing the programme, the Commission would be assisted by an advisory committee composed of representatives of the Member States. �