Sustainable Policies and Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Advances in Humanitarian Aid, Civil Protection and Human Health within the Regulation (EU) 2021/836

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the European Union (EU) legal framework of Regulation 2021/836 concerning the relationship between humanitarian aid, civil protection and human health. Using a legislative data set consisting of three documents, namely Regulation (EU) 2021/836 (2021), Decision No 1313/2013/EU (2013) and Decision (EU) 2019/420 (2019), we find that the need for development and coordination is associated with innovation and resilience measures. Thus, the study aims to better observe the complex preparedness measures and actions of the European Commission (EC) and to understand the legislative changes in the field of civil protection (CP), humanitarian aid (HA) and human health (HH) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic under the Regulation (EU) 2021/836, namely (i) the coordination of actions including the protection of the population and the establishment of logistical support and resources for the Member States (MS) [Recital (19) Regulation (EU) 2021/836];(ii) the crisis management system (CMS) at EU level and (iii) the approaches to HH and "medical countermeasures" [Recital (3) Regulation (EU) 2021/836]. The research thus points to the legal and institutional analysis of the (i) the "Union Civil Protection Mechanism" (UCPM) within Decision No 1313/2013/EU and Decision (EU) 2019/420;(ii) the "European Civil Protection Pool" (ECPP) within the Decision (EU) 2019/420;(iii) the approaches to the "Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network" (UCPKN) within the Regulation (EU) 2021/836. The research concludes by focusing on the logistical measures and resources, as well as the role of operational capabilities and information.