The EU civil protection mechanism in numbers
The EU civil protection mechanism helps EU and non-EU countries respond to emergencies such as natural disasters, health crisis or conflicts. Countries can request assistance through the mechanism when an emergency overwhelms their response capabilities.
The support given to Ukraine in 2022, following Russia's invasion, is the largest ever operation under the EU civil protection mechanism.
The mechanism was activated 106 times in 2022 and 216 times between 2020 and 2021. The number of activations between 2020 and 2022 was the highest in the history of the mechanism. This marked increase was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Mechanism activations worldwide in 2022
The map shows the 72 countries that received assistance in 2022 through the EU cCivil protection mechanism. Most countries made one or two requests for assistance but some made up to four.
The countries are divided into five categories:
- Russia's war on Ukraine
- COVID-19
- Natural disaster
- Other
Following a country's request for assistance, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre coordinate and mobilise assistance or expertise provided by member states. The centre monitors events around the globe 24/7 and ensures rapid deployment of emergency support through a direct link with national civil protection authorities.
72 countries and three international organisations (UNHCR, UN OCHA, WHO) requested assistance in 2022. Out of a total of 106 activations, 30 were inside the EU and 76 were outside the EU.
Satellite maps produced by the Copernicus Emergency Management Service also support civil protection operations. In 2022, the Copernicus service was triggered 86 times and produced 475 satellite maps.
Mechanism activations 2007-2022
In 2022, the EU civil protection mechanism provided huge support to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Thanks to the mechanism:
- 84 000 tonnes of material assistance were delivered, including power generators, shelters, medicines, food, water pumps and firefighting equipment
- 1700 sick and injured patients were evacuated from Ukraine to 18 EU countries and Norway
In parallel, the mechanism helped the Republic of Moldova and some EU countries (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia) manage the influx of refugees and evacuate sick and injured patients.
Activations f the EU civil protection mechanism between 2007 and 2021:
- 18 in 2007
- 20 in 2008
- 28 in 2009
- 28 in 2010
- 18 in 2011
- 21 in 2012
- 16 in 2013
- 18 in 2014
- 19 in 2015
- 26 in 2016
- 32 in 2017
- 20 in 2018
- 20 in 2019
- 102 in 2020
- 114 in 2021
- 106 in 2022
The support given to Ukraine following Russia's invasion is the largest operation to date under the EU civil protection mechanism.
In 2020 and 2021, the EU civil protection mechanism was mostly used to combat COVID-19 and included:
- 127 activations for personal protective or medical equipment, diagnostic tests, medical teams, medicines and vaccines
- 31 activations to repatriate EU citizens stranded abroad
The mechanism was also activated to help countries deal with natural disasters such as forest fires, floods, marine pollution, volcanic eruptions, extreme weather conditions and storms.
Mechanism activations by hazard type 2007-2022
The EU civil protection mechanism was activated between 2007 and 2019 on average every year:
- 6.5 times for forest fires
- 3.6 times for floods
- 2.1 times for civil unrest, conflicts, internally displaced people, refugees
- 1.8 times for extreme weather or storms
- 1.6 times for earthquakes
- 1.1 for biological/medical
- 0.6 times for consular support
- 0.4 times for marine pollution
- 0.2 times for volcanic eruptions
- 4 times for others
In 2020 the mechanism was activated:
- 58 times for biological/medical reasons
- 27 times for consular support
- 7 times for extreme weather or storms
- 3 times for floods
- 3 times for civil unrest, conflicts, internally displaced people, refugees
- 2 times for earthquakes
- once for forest fires
- once for another reason
In 2021 the mechanism was activated:
- 71 times for biological/medical
- 15 times for consular support
- 9 times for fires
- 4 times for volcano eruptions
- 4 times for marine pollution
- 3 times for floods
- 2 times for civil unrest, conflicts, internally displaced people, refugees
- once for earthquakes
- 5 times for other reasons
In 2022 the mechanism was activated:
- 65 times for biological/medical
- 12 times for fires
- 11 times for civil unrest, conflict, migration flows and refugees
- 6 times for floods
- 3 times for extreme weather or storms
- twice for marine pollution
- twice for consular support
- once for volcano eruptions
- 4 times for other reasons
The EU civil protection mechanism was activated more than 650 times between 2007 and 2022.
In 2020 and 2021, there were five times more requests for assistance compared to the average number of requests between 2007 and 2019. The support given to Ukraine via the EU civil protection mechanism in 2022 is the largest operation to date.
The number of requests related to natural disasters has also been growing in the last years, reaching a pick in 2022 mostly due to the wildfires that took place in Europe in summer time.
For more information:
- EU civil protection (background information)
- How the EU responds to crises and builds resilience (background information)
- Crisis coordination in the Council (background information)
- EU civil protection mechanism (European Commission)
- Emergency Response Coordination Centre (European Commission)
- Copernicus Emergency Management Service (European Commission)