Commission Implementing Decision of 8 October 2026 on the award of medals recognising and honouring long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism

C_202605299EN.000101.fmx.xml Official Journal of the European Union EN C series C/2026/5299 5.11.2026 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 8 October 2026 on the award of medals recognising and honouring long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (C/2026/5299) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism ( 1 ) , and in particular Article 20a(3) thereof, Whereas: (1) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706 ( 2 ) lays down rules for the application of Decision No 1313/2013/EU, as regards criteria and procedures for recognising long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (‘UCPM’). (2) The call for nominations for medals for long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the UCPM was published on 27 February 2026 in accordance with Article 8 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706, with a deadline for submission on 31 March 2026. (3) An award board was established in accordance with Article 9 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706 in order to review the nominations submitted by the Commission or the Member States and make recommendations to the Commission as to the award of the medals. (4) The Award Board was comprised of Maciej Popowski, Director-General, Hans Das, Deputy Director-General, and Hanna Jahns, Director of Directorate B for Strategy and Policy, Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. (5) The Award Board met on 5 May 2026 to review the eligibility criteria of the submitted nominations in accordance with Articles 4 and 5, as well as the individual merits of the nominations in accordance with Articles 6 and 7 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706. It conducted its meeting in a transparent way, ensuring that a record of the Award Board’s decision-making process was kept by the European Commission. (6) Based on its evaluation, the Award Board made recommendations to the Commission with respect to the award of medals in accordance with Article 7, Article 8(2), and Article 9(3) of Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706, taking into gender balance and geographic distribution. (7) The Award Board has proposed to the Commission that, in accordance with Article 7, point (a) of Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706, three medals for extraordinary contributions to the UCPM should be awarded. The Award Board further proposed to the Commission that, in accordance with Article 6, point (b) one medal for long-standing contribution to the UCPM should be awarded. (8) The Award Board has proposed the awarding of a medal for long standing commitment to Lieutenant General Vladimír Vlček, Director-General of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic because of his effective modernisation of the civil protection system of Czechia. Lieutenant General Vlček dedicated his career to civil protection and driving forward European Union values. (9) The Award Board has proposed the awarding of a medal for extraordinary contribution to the three pilots deployed most often through the UCPM: Cpt Marco Amort, Flight Operations Manager fleet, Cpt Fabrizio Majerna, Flight Safety Manager fleet and Frédéric Kretz, chef pilot. Those pilots risk their lives in forest-fire fighting operations every year and their invaluable contribution to safeguarding the lives of European citizens is to be recognised. They have been deployed through the UCPM 8, 9 and 6 times respectively. Further, they represent the two Member States with the highest number of deployments since 2016 – Italy with 32 aircraft deployments and France with 19. (10) The Award Board has proposed the awarding of a medal for extraordinary contribution to the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency for the Agency’s extraordinary work in the field of gender equality. The medal is to be received by Mikael Frisell, Director-General, on behalf of the agency. Sweden deploys more female experts through the UCPM than any other Member or Participating State. The Swedish rescEU shelter capacity brings strong gender sensitivity through a dedicated gender expert deployed alongside the capacity. Lastly, at national and European level, gender and inclusion activities of the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency are mainstreamed through many projects leading to an integrated gender approach in operations as well as for deployed personnel. (11) The Award Board has proposed the awarding of a medal for extraordinary contribution to the UCPM-funded project Safe and Equal in EMErgencies (SEE ME), to be received by Marijana Berket, Ministry of the Interior of Croatia, on behalf of the project. The project is a frontrunner in integrating people with disabilities in preparedness planning, integrating 112 centres with registries of persons with disabilities and disability-specific training of first responders. Croatia was the first UCPM country to provide dedicated funding for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in civil protection. (12) The medals are to be handed over to the recipients or their representatives by a representative of the Commission during the upcoming European Civil Protection Forum scheduled to take place on 3 and 4 November 2026 in Brussels. (13) Following the award ceremony, the recipients of the medals should be entered into the online public register of recipients of medals for long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the UCPM referred to in Article 12(2) of Decision (EU) 2022/706, hosted on the website of DG ECHO. (14) In the absence of any reasons or circumstances justifying a deviation from the recommendations made by the Award Board, the medals for long-standing commitment and for extraordinary contributions to the UCPM should be awarded in accordance with those recommendations, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 The medal for long-standing commitment to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (‘UCPM’) is awarded to: (1) Lieutenant General Vladimír Vlček, Director-General of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic. Article 2 The medals for extraordinary contribution to the UCPM is awarded to: (1) Cpt Marco Amort, Flight Operations Manager fleet, Cpt Fabrizio Majerna, Flight Safety Manager fleet and Frédéric Kretz, chief pilot; (2) The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency; (3) UCPM-funded project Safe and Equal in EMErgencies (SEE ME). Done at Brussels, 8 October 2026. For the Commission Hadja LAHBIB Member of the Commission ( 1 ) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924 , ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2013/1313/oj . ( 2 ) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/706 of 5 May 2022 laying down rules for the application of Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards criteria and procedures for recognising long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism ( OJ L 132, 6.5.2022, p. 102 , ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2022/706/oj ). ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/5299/oj ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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