Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The general objective of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (‘Mechanism’ or ‘UCPM’) is to strengthen the cooperation between the Union and the Member States and to facilitate coordination in the field of civil protection in order to improve the effectiveness of systems for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
This call supports exercise projects aiming to design, plan, prepare, implement, conduct and evaluate different civil protection activities including a full-scale exercise in a multi-national scenario as the main event of the project. The scenario should simulate the situation and conditions of all types of disasters calling for the activation of the Mechanism, including the main theme and cross-cutting issues.
Detailed Call Description
Under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), in the field of prevention and preparedness projects on civil protection and full-scale exercise in accordance with the 2021-2027 Multiannual Work Programme, topics under the call “Knowledge for Action in Prevention and Preparedness” – UCPM-2026-KAPP-EX, has opened for the submission of proposals.
The specific objective of the KAPP-EX call is to improve civil protection preparedness and response to all kinds of natural or human-induced disasters inside the Member States by providing a testing environment and a learning opportunity for all actors involved in civil protection assistance interventions through a full-scale field exercise at several levels.
The scenario for the exercises should build on risk assessments, and should, as much as possible, be in line with the EU-wide disaster scenarios referred to in objective 1.1 of the Union disaster resilience goals. The scenarios cover 16 natural and human-induced hazards, selected to reflect the breadth of the EU’s evolving risk landscape, and explore plausible worst-case events with cross-border and cross-sectoral impacts.
Examples can be, but not exclusively, related to the extreme weather, wildfires, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, industrial risk, critical infrastructure disruption, marine pollution, epidemic/health risk, CBRN, or multi-sectorial emergencies, such as armed conflict or terrorist attack.
In addition to the main theme, cross cutting issues such as gender, age, persons with disabilities, human rights, environmental sustainability, green economic practices, digitalisation, resilience in infrastructure, the protection of cultural heritage, etc. are encouraged to be considered and included as relevant. Civil-military cooperation could also be envisaged in the exercise scenario.
The beneficiaries will design, plan, conduct and self-evaluate one full-scale exercise project in Member States. The minimum requirements that have to be envisaged in a UCPM full-scale exercise project proposal together with practical advice and standard terminology with the aim to facilitate the process of applying for a call for proposal are described in the Technical Guide for UCPM full-scale exercise and are mandatory to be considered eligible for funding. The FSX should not be conducted in the first 12 months of the project period.
Full background information about European civil protection activities is available here.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
The maximum EU contribution is capped at € 1 000 000 per project. The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested, with a minimum of € 500 000.
The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement (90%).
The initial duration of the project cannot exceed 24 months.
Thematic Categories
- Justice - Security
- Other Thematic Category
- Public Administration
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- International Organisations
- Legal Entities
- Local Authorities
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities (public or private bodies), established in an EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories), UCPM Participating States: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine (list of participating countries). European Neighbourhood Policy countries and IPA Beneficiaries are not eligible as member of the consortium but, if an agreement with the project’s consortium is reached, they may participate with teams and capacities in the field exercise at their own cost. There are separate specific EU funding programmes that accommodate the needs of these countries.
Consortium composition
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium consisting of at least 3 beneficiaries from a minimum of 3 different eligible states.
One applicant will be acting as coordinator. This role should be covered by the host country for the exercise. The coordinator should be a civil protection public entity. International organisations may participate in the consortium only in addition to the minimum 3 eligible applicants and cannot act as the coordinator.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Civil Defence, Ministry of Interior Affairs
Kyriakos Hadjigeorgiou
Senior Civil Defence Officer
Telephone: +357 22 403448
Email: khadjigeorgiou@cd.moi.gov.cy