On March 12, the European Parliament adopted its position on the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), a new European Union initiative that seeks to create opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in another EU country. It will now be possible for disadvantaged young people to take part in the programme also in their home country on projects that benefit communities and people around Europe.

Actions covered include activities such as helping children and the elderly, assisting in centres for asylum seekers or helping to prevent natural disasters or rebuild afterwards. By integrating the former separate EU Aid Volunteers initiative into the European Solidarity Corps, a new field of action was created for the ESC, namely the support of humanitarian aid activities in third countries. This leads to additional organizational synergies and cost savings.

The programme will provide opportunities for over 350,000 participants between 2021 and 2027, and builds on the successful pilot launched in 2016. It aims to strengthen the spirit of solidarity among participants and encourage them to continue expressing their solidarity throughout their entire lives.

The overall budget available for the implementation of the European Solidarity Corps is set at €1.3 billion for the period 2021-2027. 86% of the budget for activities will be dedicated to volunteering, the rest for jobs and traineeships and volunteering in humanitarian aid.

The European Solidarity Corps is merging several EU volunteering and solidarity traineeships/jobs schemes into one single programme acting as a "one stop shop" for all solidarity related opportunities for young people.”

As for next steps, the final text must be negotiated and agreed with the Council under the next parliamentary term. 

After the success from our Conference in Bled, Slovenia, we are delighted to announce the 20th edition of the PSCE Conference. Taking place in the charming city of Lancaster, United Kingdom, this Conference will be held in collaboration with the University of Lancaster, on 4-6 June 2019.

As PSCE pledges to keep up-to-date with current tendencies within the safety and security industry, this year’s Spring Conference will cover topics such as Internet of Things (IoT), Flash Flooding, Cybersecurity and many other subjects which will be announced shortly, along with the publication of the agenda.

Following the fashion of our past events, the Lancaster Conference will provide a selective stage for experts to share experiences and challenges facing the security and safety industry today, but also solutions to address possible concerns.

Overall, our Conference in Lancaster will offer unparalleled intelligence and networking opportunities for professionals across the industry, and also the occasion to showcase products and services that will contribute to better respond to disasters and preparedness within a community. Finally, PSCE will also organise a market place in order to enhance discussions and cooperation between the three PSCE communities – industry, research and users. The goal is to organise discussions around topics and ideas that could potentially lead to business developments or project ideas (funded projects).

After the green light from the European Parliament, on March 7, the Council adopted a decision to amend the EU civil protection mechanism. The act foresees the setting-up of an additional pool of resources, rescEU, to provide assistance in situations where overall existing capacities are insufficient.

Overall, rescEU will include in particular aerial means to combat forest fires, as well as resources to respond to medical emergencies and to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents. The decision will also strengthen the existing voluntary pool of national capacities.

As for next steps, the decision will be formally signed by the Council and the European Parliament this week. The signed text will then be published in the EU Official Journal and will enter into force the following day.

The decision includes a number of new provisions that will help Member States boost existing capacities and contribute more to the European Civil Protection Pool such as: co-financing 75% to upgrade their national capacities, co-financing the costs incurred for the deployment of assets, the implementation of the European Union Civil Protection Network, The Commission will work with Member States to ensure that investments undertaken with Structural Funds are "disaster proof". This means that they will have to take into account the risk assessments that Member States provide.

According to the February's  press release from the Parliament, “the law also sets up, upon Parliament’s request, a “RescEU” reserve of resources, such as forest fire-fighting planes, high-capacity pumps, field hospitals and emergency medical teams, for use in all kinds of emergencies.” Additionally, MEPs also succeeded in strengthening the European Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network, allowing all disaster response actors to stay up-to-date and to speak "the same technical language".

The Union Civil Protection Mechanism ('the Union Mechanism') governed by Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and the Council strengthens cooperation between the Union and the Member States and facilitates coordination in the field of civil protection in order to improve the Union's response to natural and man-made disasters.

The budgetary impact of rescEU is estimated at an additional €280 million for the remaining Multiannual Financial Framework period (2018-2020).

HOW TO IMPLEMENT ARTICLE 110 OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS CODE

GETTING IT RIGHT FIRST TIME

What: 1 Day Workshop

When: 8 October 2019

Where: Finnish Ministry of Interior - Kirkkokatu 12, HELSINKI (Meeting room Kruunu)

Entry fee: 300€ (incl VAT, if number available) or 363€ (without VAT number) 

The purpose of this second PSCE workshop is to help national project teams build on the first with a review of its outcomes. In particular, developing the “Concept of Operations” and “Solution Design Specification” to now establish the essential frameworks for Governance, Policy, Regulation and Standards as well as looking at the Funding Options. All of these are critical success criteria towards the successful design to delivery of an effective Public Warning System.

As with the first workshop in Brussels on May 16, this second of three events is designed to help national project teams achieve full compliance with Article 110 EECC by June 2022. Delegates will come away with another hugely useful workshop booklet; this time with guidance on the Policy, Regulation Standards and Funding Frameworks to help accelerate your project to early procurement.

Michael Hallowes will facilitate much of the workshop. He is the former Emergency Services Commissioner and National Director of Australia’s “Emergency Alert Program”. He will offer his experience from leading the design to delivery of Australia’s equivalent Public Warning System, as a hands-on guide to successful implementation of Article 110, EECC.

This workshop complements the PSCE White Paper "HOW TO IMPLEMENT ARTICLE 110 OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS CODE - GETTING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME".