The Council adopted conclusions on improving civil protection through lessons learnt (doc. 8149/12).
The Council Decision of 8 November 2007 establishing a Community Civil Protection Mechanism had entrusted the Commission with the task of setting up a programme of lessons learnt from the interventions conducted within the framework of the mechanism and disseminating these lessons through the information system.
In its conclusions, the Council notes that the lessons learnt programme is a cornerstone in the Civil Protection Mechanism's role of facilitating reinforced cooperation in civil protection action to save lives and to protect the environment, property and cultural heritage, and that it is worth developing further at EU and national levels.
The Council calls upon Member States and the Commission, within the framework of the Mechanism, to take steps to develop a systematic approach to data and information collection and compilation from civil protection interventions and exercises, covering the entire disaster management cycle (prevention, preparedness and response activities), in order to provide a comprehensive and adequate basis for evaluation.