Nuno Melo and Peter Liese: Right lessons from the crisis / European cooperation indispensable

The European Parliament's Health Committee today adopted the Commission's proposal to amend the EU Civil Protection Mechanism with some amendments. Through the Union Mechanism, the European Union supports coordinates and complements the relevant actions of the Member States in the field of civil protection.

The EPP ENVI Coordinator Peter Liese and the EPP shadow rapporteur Nuno Melo explained: "Disasters do not know borders and may affect one or more countries simultaneously without warning. The Corona crisis in particular has shown us that we need to cooperate even more closely than before in the field of civil protection in order to provide our citizens with the best possible protection. The European Commission's proposal for improved cooperation is therefore in general right, so that we will continue to be better prepared for crises such as pandemics in the future, than we have been so far. Especially the joint procurement of vital products such as masks, medical equipment or even medicines and vaccines shows how important and valuable European cooperation is. It must never happen again that in the event of disasters such as forest fires, floods or pandemics, aid from countries such as Russia or China can be deployed on the spot rather than with the help of European partners." At present, the instrument is particularly important in order to secure the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 already now. "The European Commission is using the mechanism to conclude preliminary contracts with the vaccine companies so that the vaccine is actually available to citizens in the event of an authorisation", Liese and Melo said.

Both EPP MEPs made it clear that, under the Treaties, responsibility for civil protection naturally remained with the EU Member States. "The responsibility of the Member States is beyond question. Nevertheless, in an emergency, European civil protection assistance must be provided quickly and without complications without calling into question the competence and responsibility of the competent authorities on the ground. This has been clarified by corresponding amendments.”