International Agreements On Disaster Management

[79] In 2014, the European Commission stated that “the progressive recognition at the international level that prevention is a legal obligation (obligation to prevent) through the development of international law by the International Law Commission with respect to the `protection of persons in the event of disaster`, […] is of great importance and should serve as an instrument to improve the implementation of the HFA post-2015” (COM (2014) 216 final, 8 April 2014 12). While regulatory problems related to the provision of humanitarian assistance arise in both disaster and conflict situations, they are exacerbated in the former due to the lack of a comprehensive legal framework and an undeveloped disaster response and coordination mechanism. Common problems identified include: the content of the guidelines is mainly drawn from international legislation, rules, standards and principles; and lessons and good practices. The guidelines have gained broad international support. States parties to the Geneva Conventions adopted these guidelines at the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2007. In addition, several countries have already adopted new rules or administrative provisions based on or inspired by the guidelines. [17] [18] [19] The International Law Commission (ILC), a UN group of experts tasked with the codification of customary international law, has also committed to developing the framework for disaster management. Its “Protection of People in Disasters” programme aims to develop a legally binding framework at the global level. [20] The draft articles are devoted to humanitarian principles; The duty of States to seek assistance in the event of exceeding their national response capacity; the obligation not to arbitrarily refuse consent to external assistance; and the right of the international community to offer assistance. For its part, the EU does not have a specific treaty on MD. Nevertheless, since the mid-1980s, EU Member States have been coordinating their national civil protection capacities in the event of major natural disasters and, with the Treaty of Lisbon, cooperation has progressed considerably in the pre-disaster phase. The Civil Protection Mechanism (NPC) was established in 2001 by Council Decision 2001/792/EC to promote the use of disaster assistance and improve preparedness at national level, in cooperation with the Community institutions. The Decision provided, inter alia, for the establishment of a Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) and a common emergency communication and information system to communicate between the MIC and the contact points of the Member States, as well as assistance in the development of detection and early warning systems.

The CPM was first amended in 2007 with the adoption of an amending Decision (2007/779/EC) and a Civil Protection Financial Instrument (Decision 2007/162/EC). However, it was only with the Treaty of Lisbon that civil protection became a policy in its own right, with a specific legal basis in the Treaties. [32] The list of civil protection among the areas in which the EU has a supporting competence is Art. . . .