RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL

of 23 November 1990

on Community cooperation on civil protection

(90/C 315/01)

THE COUNCIL AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Having taken note of the Commission communication of 12 December 1989 concerning Community cooperation on civil protection and of the summary of protection measures taken by the Commission to combat risks of fire and disaster and to ensure civil protection;

Recalling their resolution of 25 June 1987 on the introduction of Community cooperation on civil protection (1) and their resolution of 13 February 1989 on the new developments in Community cooperation on civil protection (2);

Welcoming the progress resulting from implementation of those resolutions and the initial measures taken in that framework;

Convinced that the Community and the Member States should continue to develop Community cooperation on civil protection in order to be able to deal more effectively with disasters and to develop in Europe's 340 million citizens a greater sense of solidarity;

Aware that Community cooperation in the area of civil protection makes a real contribution to the establishment of a people's Europe by fostering in Europeans the sense of belonging to the same community;

Whereas the Commission has carried out work with the objective of improving the transmission of the information needed for disaster prevention and management, in particular through the use of advanced information and telecommunications systems, including aerospace resources;

Whereas the Commission has completed a study to assess the means and requirements for a pilot computerized information system for civil protection; whereas a system to make more effective use of existing specific information and to improve technical cooperation between rescue teams helping in emergencies outside their own countries or regions would be desirable;

Emphasizing that the new measures envisaged do not interfere with Member States' preparation or management of emergency plans for dealing with disasters;

Whereas it is desirable to be fully involved in the United Nations International Decade against Natural Disasters by conducting information, education and awareness campaigns on civil protection;

Whereas some Member States' laws allow young people engaged in civilian or voluntary service to take part in activities relating to civil protection; whereas it could be of benefit to increase the scope for mobilizing young people in disaster prevention, rescue and repair work;

Whereas there is a need to develop Community actions to protect forests from destruction by fire involving global environmental consequences;

Note with satisfaction the progress towards completion of a multilingual glossary of civil protection terminology, which they urge the Commission to publish by June 1991;

Note with satisfaction the development of the Commission departments' work on the use of advanced telecommunications systems;

Support the Commission in its intention of assessing and determining, in collaboration with the network of national liaison officers, the various options for advanced telecommunications systems to meet civil protection requirements, including the feasibility of using satellite systems, and, in this connection, agree to study, within the appropriate Community fora, whether new frequency bands need to be allocated for civil protection purposes;

Agree to the implementation of a pilot project for a computerized information system for civil protection and to the introduction in collaboration with the network of national liaison officers, of a complementary data bank of specialized human and material resources available in the Member States;

Agree to carry out a coordinated campaign in the Member States to inform, educate and raise the awareness of Community citizens and to declare a European Year of Civil Protection from June 1993 to June 1994. To this end, they undertake to take a decision on the content of this campaign on the basis of the Commission's communication on this question. Moreover, they invite the Commission to present a proposal for actions to be carried out during the abovementioned European Year, for consideration by the Council;

Call on the Commission to continue investigating the scope, in the context of Community cooperation, for enhancing the training of young people doing civilian or voluntary service who are engaged in civil protection-related activities, and to submit relevant proposals during 1991;

Consider that action at Community level is needed in the form of appropriate new initiatives and measures to develop Community cooperation on civil protection, to step up exchanges between Member States and to encourage the training of personnel concerned with natural and man-made disasters, including combating forest fires;

Call upon the Commission to undertake consultations and studies with a view to developing actions for the improvement of intra-Community cooperation in order to establish basic conditions for preventing and combating forest fires with the better utilization of available resources, for improved means of preventing and detection of forest fires, and better exchange of information and training in that field. They request the Commission to take part in the organization of an experts' seminar on the various aspects of the overall problem of forest fires to be held in 1991;

Reaffirm the importance of civil protection and encourage initiatives taken by the Commission as a complement to existing national measures;

Support the implementation of the measures set out above, which where necessary should be accompanied by appropriate financial resources.

(1) OJ No C 176, 4. 7. 1987, p. 1.

(2) OJ No C 44, 23. 2. 1989, p. 3.