The European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP) is a reserve of emergency response teams and equipment. It was set up to advance European cooperation in civil protection, and to enable a faster, better-coordinated, and more effective European response to disasters.
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*The UCPM legislation uses the term “response capacities” when referring to resources with certain abilities/capabilities in the ECPP, in order to focus on what the resources are capable of doing.
The ECPP was created in 2014 to ensure a more predictable EU response to disasters. The Pool seeks to make key emergency response capacities more predictably available for response operations under the UCPM. The Pool also includes a quality assurance system to guarantee that resources within the ECPP are fit for international disaster response.
The applicable legislation is Decision 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism, in particular its Articles 11, 21 and 23. Practical operational details are defined in Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/704, and in particular its chapter 5 and annexes II (minimum requirements for modules), III (capacity goals) and V (certification).
The ECPP/Pool is a reserve of emergency response capacities. More specifically, these are:
For a full list of modules and capacity, see this overview booklet.
Countries that participate in the UCPM commit these capacities to the ECPP on a voluntary basis, for a defined number of years.
ECPP capacities are expected to be available for immediate deployment worldwide, following a request for assistance through the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC). ECPP capacities remain under the command and control of the offering country. Only domestic emergencies, force majeure, or other serious reasons can prevent a Member State or Participating State from making the capacities available for European emergency response operations. However, the final decision on their deployment lies with the Member State or Participating State which registered the response capacity concerned.
A quality assurance system in the form of a certification process guarantees that ECPP capacities are fit for emergency response operations in an international context under the UCPM.
ECPP capacities can benefit from EU financial support, before, during or after their certification process.
For each type of ECPP capacity, a capacity goal defines what is perceived as the minimum number to be available in the Pool for its good functioning.
The country’s national civil protection authority first addresses a political commitment to the European Commission, in the form of a formal correspondence, stating which response capacities are committed (=offered) to the Pool, and for how many years.
This political commitment should be accompanied by the completed application form, the capacity’s factsheet and the capacity’s standard operating procedures (SOP).
The SOP should cover the management of the response capacity in international response operations under the UCPM, and more specifically what relates to preparedness, coordination, interoperability and self-sufficiency arrangements and procedures. Guidelines for drafting SOPs are being revised.
The Commission assesses the offered capacity/ies based on the information provided, and particularly their completeness. When the application is accepted, the Commission notifies the offering country and launches the certification process.
The certification of resources in the Pool generally follows a three-step process: a consultative visit, participation in a table-top exercise and participation in a field exercise. The three-step process is described in the Certification Guidelines. The main tool is the certification grid and its practical guide.
Experts from Member States and Participating States are involved as “peer certifiers” to support the Commission in the process. They have a high degree of technical expertise and a good knowledge of the UCPM, particularly exercises. Terms of Reference (ToR) for peer certifiers are available here.
During the consultative visit, the Commission verifies and discusses the information provided in the application with relevant interlocutors in the offering country. The exchanges mainly focus on the preparedness aspects.
Following the consultative visit, the Commission sends a feedback message with identified best practices, areas for improvement and the corresponding recommendations to the offering country.
The table-top exercise serves to test the decision-making and managerial procedures during a response operation. The focus is essentially on interoperability and coordination.
The field exercise allows operational aspects during the different phases of an international deployment to be tested. In particular, since the capacity participates with its full equipment and technical staff, self-sufficiency can be assessed.
NB: Light, Medium and Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams are accepted as ECPP certified when holding a valid INSARAG classification. The same holds for Emergency Medical Teams (including Specialised Care Teams) and Rapid Response Mobile Laboratories (RRML) when they are classified by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Upon successful completion of the certification process, if not done already, the offering country is invited to register the response capacity in the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS). After the Commission has entered the commitment and certification dates, the response capacity is identified as a registered ECPP capacity.
The commitment period starts when the response capacity is certified.
The European Commission provides financial support for the preparedness and the deployment of modules and ORCs.
In the form of “adaptation grants”, the EU can co-finance up to 75% of the eligible costs to upgrade or repair response capacities so that they are fully fit for deployments in an international context.
Organisations owning response capacities may apply for adaptation grants at any time during the certification process (before, during or after), as necessary.
The Commission usually opens the possibility to apply for adaptation grants once a year, by sending an invitation to apply to national civil protection authorities in Member States and Participating States. The invitation and the related documentation are also published on DG ECHO’s funding webpage.
When an ECPP capacity is deployed under the UCPM to respond to a disaster inside or outside the EU, the EU financial assistance shall not exceed 75% of the costs of operating the capacity during the response operations, including transport to and from the site of operations. Such operational costs may relate to personnel, international and local transport, logistics, consumables and supplies, maintenance etc.
The Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/704 determines the need for re-certification ‘at the latest after 5 years’: “If the Member State re-commits the same response module, other response capacity or TAST to the ECPP, the certification of that response capacity shall be reassessed at the latest after 5 years” (Article 15.6).
The recertification and reregistration process are designed to verify the investments made in developing the capacity, in terms of national and international exercises, real response operations, equipment, staff training and better procedures. The objective is to ensure that the ECPP’s quality assurance and minimum standards are strengthened and improved. The recertification maintains the certification’s overall focus on preparedness, self-sufficiency, interoperability, and coordination. The capacity’s certification report, and the recommendations it contains, is the starting base on which the recertification process builds up. The recertification and reregistration process consists of three phases, i.e., the renewal of the political commitment and application, the online validation visit, and finally the registration.
The recertification process is described in the “Recertification Guidelines”.
Quality requirements for relief items under the ECPP shall comply with relevant Union or international regulations or standards. The relevant competent authority shall be requested to submit a formal declaration or supporting evidence.
Guidelines for establishing and managing a Pool of Experts within the ECPP will be adopted in 2025.
The Commission expert group on capacities supports the development of the ECPP and rescEU capacities, from a legal, policy and operational perspective.
It consists of designated experts of the Member States and Participating States, with a demonstrated expertise on emergency response capacities.
The Commission discusses relevant operational or technical issues within this group before bringing the conclusions to the Civil Protection Committee (CPC). Sub-groups can be formed and work on specific topics, as needed. The group meets on average once a year.
For more information on the ECPP, please contact us @ ECHO-EUROPEAN-CIVIL-PROTECTION-POOL@ec.europa.eu
| ECPP capacities | Certification | Recertification Guidelines | Implementing rules and legislation |
Map of offered and registered ECPP modules, TAST and ORCs Interactive guide to ECPP capacities (modules and ORCs) here | Certification Guidelines - November 2023 Template ECPP Certification grid v March 2024 Certification and recertifcation of twin capacities - guidelines | Final Recertification guidelines | ECHO Legal Framework |