EU civil protection mechanism: coordinating Europe's firefighters
French President Emmanuel Macron has activated the EU civil protection mechanism to help combat devastating wildfires. The system has become increasingly effective, yet it will
French President Emmanuel Macron has activated the EU civil protection mechanism to help combat devastating wildfires. The system has become increasingly effective, yet it will reach its limits in the summer of 2026. France is quite well-prepared for wildfires. The government operates 12 Canadair water bombers and eight Dash firefighting aircraft. In addition, leased aircraft and helicopters are being used. However, the fleet is currently needed simultaneously across many parts of the country. A drought has been intensifying for weeks, and several heat waves with temperatures sometimes exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) have left the vegetation extremely parched. The devastating wildfire near Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast has already engulfed more than 42,000 hectares of forest and vegetation. At the same time, fires and follow-up extinguishing efforts in southern and southeastern France are tying up additional emergency personnel. In many places, firefighters are battling the flames in an exhausting, round-the-clock effort. However, strong winds are fanning the fire fronts, making them almost unstoppable, and more than 220,000 people have had to leave their homes and vacation homes so far. The gravity of the situation is also underscored by the fact that the French government has deployed an A400M military transport aircraft equipped for aerial firefighting for the first time. The A400M can drop around 20 metric tons of fire retardant, more than three times as much as a Canadair. Nevertheless, the situation is currently so dire that President Emmanuel Macron also activated the EU civil protection mechanism (CPM) and requested assistance from other European countries.
The French Air Force military transport A400M aircraft makes its first-ever drop of fire retardant Image: Abdul Saboor/AFP 24/7 service at the emergency response coordination centre To activate the CPM, a country reports its needs to the European Union's emergency response coordination centre, ERCC, in Brussels. ERCC experts assess which of the 37 participating countries can provide assistance. Initial assistance for France was mobilized within a few hours and has since been significantly expanded. Firefighting aircraft and helicopters from Portugal, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, Sweden and Slovakia are supporting France, primarily in the greater Bordeaux area. At the same time, however, the EU also dispatched six additional firefighting aircraft from Greece, Turkey and Italy to Spain. This means that 13 of the 22 firefighting aircraft available for this summer have already been mobilized for these two countries. The figures also demonstrate how quickly the European reserve can be drawn upon when multiple large-scale wildfires occur simultaneously. According to the European Commission, the resources currently available are therefore likely insufficient to keep pace with the scale of the fires. Turkey, Norway and others cooperate with EU members Since the launch of the civil protection mechanism in 2001, the system has been expanded several times. Since 2019, the EU has also launched rescEU, a strategic reserve comprising firefighting aircraft, medical equipment, field hospitals and specialized technology for chemical or nuclear emergencies. In addition to the 27 EU member states, 10 other countries are also participating in the civil protection mechanism, including Norway, Turkey and several Western Balkan states.
The BriefWire