Underline the Union.
Disasters know no borders. That’s why in October 2001, the European Commission established the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Baden-Württemberg wants to prepare itself for an emergency in order to protect the population of Baden-Württemberg in the best possible way. Together with Austria, Greece, Switzerland and France, Baden-Württemberg is conducting the first Full-Scale-Exercise in Germany as part of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. An earthquake scenario in the Upper Rhine region will be simulated as the disaster to be practiced. The exercise will take place from October 24-26, 2024. During the 36-hour Full-Scale-Exercise, the partners are practice how to act in an emergency: from the request for international assistance to the arrival of the units and cooperation at the incident.
Why we practice
The activation of the UCPM is an important component of civil protection for Baden-Württemberg so that it is optimally prepared for future disasters. For this reason, the review and analysis of both the incoming assistance and the EU Host Nation Support Guidelines as part of an exercise is an important point for civil protection in Baden-Württemberg.
Since Baden-Württemberg currently has no references regarding incoming assistance, communicating with other UCPM members who have already implemented the HNS guidelines and at best have already practiced them is important. This way, information will be exchanged in advance in relevant workshops, and Baden-Württemberg can benefit from the lessons learned.
In the second step, the designed structures and procedures should be practiced. Conducting the exercise by practicing incoming assistance from border crossing points, reception and arrival as well as transfer of national and international response teams to the areas of operation ("EU Host Nation Support Guidelines"), gives Baden-Württemberg the unique opportunity to review, analyze and evaluate the response coordination procedures. Baden-Württemberg wants to convert lessons identified and lessons learned in the exercise into lessons implemented. These should be distributed to all actors involved. This way, the benefits of the exercise regarding incoming assistance and the interaction of participants in the UCPM are optimally defined, and, in the event of a real disaster, any friction losses and interface problems are reduced to a minimum.
A desired secondary aspect of implementing the UCPM in Baden-Württemberg is a stronger networking of different actors. This can initiate a technical discourse during the year which raises further awareness of the individual bodies and brings forth new ideas.
European Civil
Protection
Disasters know no borders and can simultaneously hit one or several countries without warning. Having a well-coordinated joint response means that when national authorities are overwhelmed, they have one point of contact rather than multiple to deal with. A joint approach further helps pool expertise and capacities of first responders, avoids duplication of relief efforts, and ensures that assistance meets the needs of those affected. Pooling together civil protection capacities and capabilities allows for a stronger and more coherent collective response. When an emergency overwhelms the response capabilities of a country in Europe and beyond, it can request assistance through the European Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). In addition to the EU countries, there are currently 10 participating states in the Mechanism (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine).
Find out more about the Full-Scale Earthquake Response Exercise: