Who would raise the alarm?
Have you ever asked yourself who in the EU would raise the alarm in case of a natural catastrophe? Is the EU as badly prepared for that eventuality as the Indian Ocean was December 26? How are EU member states alerted and how are relief efforts...
Have you ever asked yourself who in the EU would raise the alarm in case of a natural catastrophe? Is the EU as badly prepared for that eventuality as the Indian Ocean was December 26?
How are EU member states alerted and how are relief efforts co-ordinated? To begin with there is one phone number: 112.
On the day the tsunami struck the EU Commission's Civil Protection Mechanism was activated at 8.45 a.m. Central European Time (CET), immediately following the first reports of the earthquake in Indonesia.
The first European expert left for Thailand at 11.30 a.m. while European fire fighter teams were dispatched to the tsunami-hit area immediately after the catastrophe.
Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner responsible for the Civil Protection Mechanism, said: "Our Civil Protection Mechanism has proved to be valuable in this time of crisis and member states have offered considerable assistance."
He added that when such disasters strike it is very important for the EU member states to work together, rather than side by side. The EU's Civil Protection Mechanism is there to ensure that there is no duplication of effort and that every member state contributes as efficiently as possible.
The Civil Protection Mechanism was established in 2001 to support and facilitate European civil protection assistance in the event of major disasters. The operational heart of this system is the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), operated by the Commission on a 24-hour a day, seven days a week basis.
When an emergency breaks out, the MIC alerts the 30 participating countries (EU-25, Bulgaria, Romania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). On request of the disaster-stricken state and, in the case of the tsunami crisis, in close co-operation with the UN agencies on the spot, the MIC transmits requests for assistance and then co-ordinates the delivery of material and teams that are made available.
MIC financed expert teams that were sent to Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives and Indonesia. Their role is to advise on what is needed and 'liaise' with the local authorities and international partners to ensure smooth arrival and distribution of the assistance.