EU auditors launch audit report “The Union Civil Protection Mechanism’s rescEU reserve”

On Thursday 25 June, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism’s rescEU reserve.

RescEU was created in 2019 under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) as the EU’s strategic reserve of disaster response capacities and stockpiles.

Initially set up to provide firefighting planes and helicopters after the 2017 wildfires that affected large areas of Europe, it has since expanded to include items such as field hospitals, shelters, medical supplies, and equipment for chemical, radiological, biological and nuclear (CRBN) emergencies. Its importance has grown as Europe faces more frequent and complex crises, including climate-related disasters, pandemics such as COVID 19, and the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

This audit examined how the Commission planned, financed and deployed rescEU capacities between 2022 and 2024. The auditors reviewed calls for proposals, funded projects and response actions, and carried out visits in France, Italy, Poland and Finland.

The report and press release will be published on the ECA website (eca.europa.eu) on Thursday 25 June at 17:00 (Luxembourg time). The ECA member responsible for this report is George Marius Hyzler.

The ECA’s special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.