28 March 2012
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Article 42: Solidarity clause
1. The Union and its Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the victim of terrorist attack or natural or man-made disaster. The Union shall mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the Member States, to:
(a) - prevent the terrorist threat in the territory of the
Member States;
- protect democratic institutions and the civilian population
from any terrorist attack;
- assist a Member State in its territory at the request of its
political authorities in the event of a terrorist attack;
(b) - assist a Member State in its territory at the request of its political authorities in the event of a disaster.
2. The detailed arrangements for implementing this provision are at Article III-231.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOLIDARITY CLAUSE
Article III - 231
1. Acting on a joint proposal by the Commission and the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers shall adopt a European decision defining the arrangements for the implementation of the solidarity clause referred to in Article I-42. The European Parliament shall be informed.
2. Should a Member State fall victim to a terrorist attack or a natural or man made disaster, the other Member States shall assist it at the request of its political authorities. To that end, the Member States shall coordinate between themselves in the Council of Ministers.
3. For the purposes of this Article, the Council of Ministers shall be assisted by the Political and Security Committee, with the support of the structures developed in the context of the common security and defence policy, and by the Committee provided for in Article III-162, which shall, if necessary, submit joint opinions.
4. The European Council shall regularly assess the threats
facing the Union in order to enable the Union to take effective
action.
Article III 162
A standing committee shall be set up within the Council of
Ministers in order to ensure that operational cooperation on
internal security is promoted and strengthened within the Union.
Without prejudice to Article III 247, it shall facilitate coordination
of the action of Member States' competent authorities. Representatives
of the Union bodies and agencies concerned may be involved in
the proceedings of this committee. The European Parliament and
Member States' national parliaments shall be kept informed of
the proceedings.
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