On 13-14 May, 2019 in Lviv, Ukraine, partners from Belarus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland and Ukraine, met at First Planning Meeting for a EU-CHEM-REACT 2, to start the implementation of a major program, financed by the European Union, on strengthening and ensuring the high level of response within the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). It will offer a series of exercises and various preparedness activities to complement the national preparedness endeavors in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.

EU-CHEM-REACT 2 (www.ecr.iccss.eu) is based on the successful, ongoing implementation of the EU-CHEM-REACT project which was implemented in Ukraine by the international consortium of Lithuania, Ukraine Poland with an active participation of OSCE, Latvia and Czech Republic, and led by the ICCSS.

EU-CHEM-REACT 2 will improve prevention, preparedness and response to chemical disasters in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, through series of trainings and exercises in civil protection including: Table Top  Exercise /TTX/, Command Post Exercise (CPX), and a Full Scale Field Exercise (FsX) and best practices exchanges and national and industry capacity building to prevent and respond to man-mand and natural chemical disasters. EU-CHEM-REACT 2 will also develop volunteer fire services and medical rescue and their use within Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). It will promote the develop Civil Protection Exercises Public Information Strategy, and seek the establishment of a regional exercise network in civil protection.  

The Union Civil Protection Mechanism, hereafter the Mechanism, was established by Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism. The Mechanism was set up with the aim to provide support, upon request, in the event of major emergencies and to facilitate improved coordination of assistance intervention.  The Mechanism does so by facilitating response to protect primarily people but also the environment and property, including cultural heritage, in the event of natural and man-made disasters, acts of terrorism and technological, radiological or environmental accidents, including accidental marine pollution, occurring inside or outside the European Union, taking into account the special needs of the isolated, outermost and other regions or islands of the European Union.

EU-CHEM-REACT 2, formed by an international consortium composed of the government and academic partners from Belarus, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine, and the participation of European Union (EU), United Nations, OSCE, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), NATO, INTERPOL,  and the leadership of the ICCSS, will be implemented in 2019-2020.

During the Lviv meeting the partners presented their capacities and capabilities, shared the relevant information and agreed on a working plan for the project implementation, including the timing and planning for Table Top  Exercise /TTX/, in Belarus, in October, 2019, Command Post Exercise (CPX) in Moldova, in February, 2020, and a Full Scale Field Exercise (FsX) in Ukraine, in autumn 2020. The participants also agreed to invite the participants and observes from international organizations and countries. Important elements of the Lviv meeting included training on project evaluation, presentations on legal and practical aspects of EU Civil Protection. The meeting also agreed to form an EU-CHEM-REACT 2 team of trainers, to conduct the trainings and exercises on civil protection and chemical safety and security.