On 20 December 2011 the Commission proposed a Union Civil Protection Mechanismto replace the Council Decisions on the Civil Protection Mechanism, which facilitates reinforced cooperation between the Member States and the Union in the field of civil protection and the Civil Protection Financial Instrument, which provides funding for the actions under the Mechanism to ensure protection against natural and man-made disasters.

The following general actions shall be eligible for financial assistance:

• studies, surveys, modelling and scenario building to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, best practices and information, and to enhance prevention, preparedness and effective response;
• training, exercises, workshops, exchange of staff and experts, creation of networks, demonstration projects and technology transfer to enhance prevention, preparedness and effective response;
• monitoring, assessment and evaluation actions;
• public information, education and awareness raising and associated dissemination actions, so as to minimise the effects of disasters on Union citizens and to help Union citizens to protect themselves more effectively;
• establishment of a programme of lessons learnt from interventions and exercises in the context of the Mechanism, including on areas relevant to prevention and preparedness;
• communication actions and measures to promote the visibility of the European civil protection work in the areas of prevention, preparedness and response.

Further actions eligible for financial assistance are defined for prevention and preparedness, response, and actions linked to equipment, transport resources and related logistics.