The EU Peer Review programme promotes an integrated approach to disaster risk management and supports a wider policy dialogue across Europe and beyond, improving policy coherence and facilitating the exchange of good practices on civil protection and disaster risk management.
A peer review of disaster risk management and civil protection systems provides a country or a region with a unique opportunity to reflect on its readiness to cope with natural hazards and human-induced disasters and to identify ways of strengthening its prevention and preparedness policy and practices. It also facilitates the exchange of good practices.
The Peer Review programme is a tool made available to civil protection authorities of Member States, participating states, enlargement and neighbourhood countries under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) legislation. It is managed by the Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department.
The Peer Review programme is carried out in close partnership between the Commission, the team of peers (civil protection experts and practitioners selected for the specific review), and the relevant authorities of the country/region under review. The Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC), based in Italy, is currently supporting this programme until 2024.
The peers prepare a report, including an overview of the situation, and identified good practices and recommendations for improvement, based on desk research and in-country discussions.
The civil protection authorities of the country under review have an opportunity to review and comment the report during its drafting. The review is completed when the final report including recommendations and good practices is released.
Depending on the administrative organisation and responsibilities at various levels across the Member States and the UCPM Participating States, a peer review may be undertaken at national and/or regional level.
The Commission has launched a new tool to support wildfire risk management capacity building and good practices exchange among European countries. The Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework (Wildfire PRAF) will facilitate peer reviews of wildfire risk management systems within the framework of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). This new tool will help countries assess their capacity to prevent wildfires from starting and their preparedness to cope with them.
Member States and Participating States are invited to volunteer for a wildfire management peer review or to use this tool for a self-review, at national and/or regional level.
Wildfires are one of the most prominent disaster risks in Europe and are increasing in intensity and geographic scope due to climate change. The year 2022 was the second worst in Europe in terms of hectares of burnt areas since 2006, behind 2017 only. In 2022, the Union Civil Protection Mechanism was activated 11 times by 6 countries (Albania, Czechia, France, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia) due to large wildfires that exceeded their national capacity to cope. This is indicative of the significant attention paid to forest fires across the disaster risk management cycle under the UCPM.
In September 2022, the EU ministers responsible for civil protection called on the Commission to step up its support to Member States for wildfire prevention. In response, we put forward a Wildfire Prevention Action Plan. The Wildfire PRAF is a key contribution to this action plan.
To guide the peer review process for both the country/region under review and the peer team, the following key documents are available:
The Peer Review Assessment Framework (PRAF) describes the disaster risk management thematic areas that are to be reviewed. The seven thematic areas are: disaster risk reduction governance, risk assessment, risk management planning, risk prevention, risk preparedness, emergency response, recovery and lessons learned.
The host country or region can choose all or a subset of the thematic areas to define the scope of their respective peer review.
The document also assists the structuring and drafting of the peer review report.
The analytical Assessment Framework for a Peer Review
(4.06 MB - PDF)Building on the general PRAF, the Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework (Wildfire PRAF) is a tool designed to facilitate thematic reviews of wildfire risk management systems, within the framework of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. Its focus is on the risk associated with large-scale unplanned or uncontrolled wildfire fires affecting natural, cultural, industrial, and residential landscapes.
The framework also serves as a self-assessment tool for countries and regions to analyse their own systems for wildfire risk management.
Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework
(14.5 MB - PDF)This document provides the essentials for an effective peer review, clarifying the principles that drive the process, the roles and responsibilities of the different actors involved, the workflow to be followed and the tools available.
Peer Review Programme Guidelines
(2.36 MB - PDF)To date, 16 countries have benefitted from a peer review: the United Kingdom, Finland, Bulgaria, Georgia, Türkiye, Estonia, Malta, Poland, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Tunisia, Serbia, Algeria, Portugal, Romania and Republic of Moldova (for Moldova the report is due to be published September 2023).
Find links to all peer review reports in the document below.
The Department for Emergency Situation (DES) within the Ministry of Interior of Romania, together with the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (GIES), requested a UCPM peer review in April 2022. The focus of the peer review was disaster risk reduction governance, risk management planning, risk prevention and risk preparedness measures. The review mission took place in October 2022 when the peer review team met with a wide range of stakeholders and went on field visits in and around Bucharest. The report was handed over to the Romanian Prime-Minister in February 2023, and will contribute to the finalisation for adoption of the national disaster risk reduction strategy of Romania.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova requested a peer review of its disaster risk management capabilities in October 2022. The General Inspectorate for Emergency situations (GIES) of Moldova is the focal point for this peer review. The mission took place in April 2023 and the report is expected to be released in September 2023. The report will identify areas for improvements and highlight good practices within the disaster risk management and civil protection system in Moldova.
| Country | Date | Review | Report |
| Romania | 2023 | Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management | en |
| Serbia | 2019 | Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management | en |
| Algeria | 2019 | Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management | fr |
| Portugal | 2019 | Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management | en |
| Cyprus | 2018 | General Disaster Risk Management | en |
| North Macedonia | 2018 | Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management | en |
| Tunisia | 2018 | Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management | en - fr |
| Estonia | 2016 | Risk management capabilities | en |
| Malta | 2016 | Risk assessment | en |
| Poland | 2016 | Risk assessment | en - pl |
| Bulgaria | 2015 | General Disaster risk management | en - bg |
| Georgia | 2015 | Risk assessment and early warning | en - ge |
| Türkiye | 2015 | General Disaster risk management | en - tk |
| Finland | 2014 | Building resilience to disasters: assessing the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action | en |
| United Kingdom | 2013 | Building resilience to disasters: assessing the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action | en |
Peer Review of disaster risk management and civil protection systems
(986.8 KB - PDF)
