The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
Pursuant to the national security policy objectives the Civil Emergency Preparedness and Strategies Division represents the Czech Republic in the NATO Civil Emergency Planning Committee (CEPC) and the Civil Protection Group (CPG). The division also coordinates policy across central administrative authorities within the NATO civil emergency planning framework.
- NATO Civil Emergency Planning
- NATO Civil Emergency Planning Committee (CEPC)
- The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC)
The overall coordination of the NATO Civil Emergency Planning is facilitated by the Civil Emergency Planning Committee (CEPC). This Committee is the main advisory body for the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in the area of civil preparedness. It provides NATO with relevant expertise and civilian support for NATO’s objectives in the military domain but also in case of civilian crises (e.g. CRBN area or disaster response).
The Committee meets twice a year for a plenary session at the level of the heads of the national civil emergency planning organisations from NATO and partner countries. In addition, it meets biweekly in permanent session, where countries are represented by their national delegations to NATO. In permanent session the Czech Republic is represented by MoI-DG FRS CZ liaison officer to the permanent delegation at NATO.
CEPC coordinates and provides direction and guidance for four specialised planning groups. These bring together national government, industry experts and military representatives to coordinate emergency planning in areas such as: civil protection; transport; industrial resources and communications; public health, food and water. Their primary purpose is to develop procedures for use in crisis situations. At the moment there is around 4 hundred civilian experts that provide expertise to the respective planning groups.