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1. When a disaster occurs outside the Union, or is imminent, the affected country may request assistance through the ERCC. The assistance may also be requested through or by the United Nations and its agencies, or a relevant international organisation. A request for assistance shall lapse after a maximum period of 90 days, unless new elements justifying the need for continued or additional assistance are provided to the ERCC.

2. Interventions under this Article may be conducted either as an autonomous assistance intervention or as a contribution to an intervention led by an international organisation. The Union coordination shall be fully integrated with the overall coordination provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and shall respect its leading role. In the case of man-made disasters or complex emergencies, the Commission shall ensure consistency with the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (), and respect for humanitarian principles.

3. The Commission shall support the consistency in the delivery of the assistance through the following actions:

(a) maintaining a dialogue with the Member States’ contact points in order to ensure an effective and coherent Union disaster response contribution through the Union Mechanism to the overall relief effort, in particular by:

(i) informing Member States without delay of the full requests for assistance;

(ii) supporting a common assessment of the situation and needs, providing technical advice and/or facilitating the coordination on site of assistance through the presence of a civil protection expert team on site;

(iii) sharing relevant assessments and analyses with all relevant actors;

(iv) providing an overview of assistance being offered by Member States and other actors;

(v) advising on the type of assistance required in order to ensure that the assistance provided is consistent with the needs assessments; and (vi) assisting in overcoming any practical difficulties in the delivery of assistance in areas such as transit and customs;

(b) immediately making recommendations, when possible in cooperation with the affected country, based on the needs on the ground and any relevant pre-developed plans, inviting Member States to deploy specific capacities and facilitating the coordination of the requested assistance;

(c) liaising with the affected country on technical details, such as the precise needs for assistance, the acceptance of offers and the practical arrangements for the local reception and distribution of assistance;

(d) liaising with or supporting OCHA, and cooperating with other relevant actors that contribute to the overall relief effort, in order to maximise synergies, seek complementarities and avoid duplication and gaps; and (e) liaising with all relevant actors, in particular in the closing phase of the assistance intervention under the Union Mechanism, to facilitate a smooth handover.

4. Without prejudice to the Commission's role, as defined in paragraph 3, and respecting the imperative for an immediate operational response through the Union Mechanism, the Commission shall upon activation of the Union Mechanism inform the European External Action Service to allow for consistency between the civil protection operation and the overall Union relations with the affected country. The Commission shall keep the Member States fully informed in accordance with paragraph 3.

5. On site, liaison shall be ensured as appropriate with the Union delegation for the latter to facilitate contacts with the government of the affected country. Where necessary, the Union delegation shall provide logistical support to the civil protection expert teams referred to in point (ii) of point (a) of paragraph 3.

6. Any Member State to which a request for assistance is addressed through the Union Mechanism shall promptly determine whether it is in a position to render the assistance required and inform the ERCC of its decision through the CECIS, indicating the scope and terms of any assistance it could render. The ERCC shall keep Member States informed.

7. The Union Mechanism may also be used to provide civil protection support to consular assistance to the citizens of the Union in disasters in third countries if requested by the consular authorities of the Member States concerned.

8. Pursuant to a request for assistance, the Commission may take additional necessary supporting and complementary action in order to ensure consistency in the delivery of the assistance.

9. Coordination through the Union Mechanism shall affect neither bilateral contacts between Member States and the affected country, nor cooperation between Member States and the United Nations and other relevant international organisations. Such bilateral contacts may also be used to contribute to the coordination through the Union Mechanism.

10. The role of the Commission referred to in this Article shall not affect the Member States’ competences and responsibility for their teams, modules and other support, including military capacities. In particular, the support offered by the Commission shall not entail command and control over Member States’ teams, modules and other support, which shall be deployed on a voluntary basis in accordance with the coordination at headquarters level and on site.

11. Synergies shall be sought with other instruments of the Union, in particular with actions financed under Regulation (EC) No 1257/96. The Commission shall ensure coordination between the instruments and, where appropriate, ensure that Member States' civil protection actions contributing to a wider humanitarian response are as far as possible financed under this Decision.

12. Whenever the Union Mechanism is activated, the Member States providing disaster assistance shall keep the ERCC fully informed of their activities.

13. Member States’ teams and modules participating on site in the intervention through the Union Mechanism shall liaise closely with the ERCC and the expert teams on site, as referred to in point (ii) of point (a) of paragraph 3.