Greater region plans joint office for civil protection
A joint coordination center for disasters is to be set up in the Greater Region. "We also need such a coordinating body in disaster and civil protection, which makes it possible to come together very quickly even in the event of minor incidents and to have the situation under control very quickly," said Rhineland-Palatinate Minister President Malu Dreyer (SPD) on Monday at an interim summit of the Greater Region in Tawern (Trier-Saarburg district).
Rhineland-Palatinate took over the presidency of the Greater Region summit for two years at the beginning of 2023. The area with almost twelve million inhabitants includes Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Luxembourg, Lorraine (Grand Est), Wallonia, the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and the German-speaking community in Belgium.
On Monday, the summit participants founded the joint working group "Civil Protection, Fire and Rescue Services" in order to strengthen cooperation. The aim is for the new structure with a coordinating body to be "in place" by the end of 2024, said Dreyer. The focus would be on cross-border disasters, but also on disasters in the respective regions, where they could support each other.
Saarland Minister-President Anke Rehlinger (SPD) said at the meeting that it was important to have "established structures with clear contact persons" in such cases in order to be able to "exchange information very quickly". We have seen on various occasions "that we really do have to prepare for major incidents or, in the worst case, a pandemic. And such events in particular do not stop at borders". That's why the plan was to "tackle things systematically".
In terms of cross-border police and customs cooperation, there has already been a joint office in Luxembourg in the Greater Region for 20 years. The new office for civil protection could also be located there, said Dreyer. However, this still needs to be clarified with the new government, which is not yet in office.
The International Government has endorsed the establishment of a joint office for civil protection in the Greater Region, as highlighted by Rhineland-Palatinate Minister President Malu Dreyer. This office aims to provide a unified response to cross-border disasters and support regional efforts in managing incidents.
Source: www.dpa.com
