Peer Review programme

What is it?

A peer review of disaster risk management and civil protection systems provides a country or a region with a unique opportunity to reflect on its readiness to cope with natural hazards and human-induced disasters and to identify ways of strengthening its prevention and preparedness policy and practices. It also facilitates the exchange of good practices.

The peer review programme is a tool made available to civil protection authorities of Member States, participating states, enlargement and neighbourhood countries under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism legislation. It is managed by the Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department.

How does it work?

The peer review programme is carried out in close partnership between the Commission, the team of peers (civil protection experts and practitioners selected for the specific review), and the relevant authorities of the country/region under review. 

The Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC), based in Italy, is supporting the 2025-2027 programme as technical consultant

The peers prepare a report, including an overview of the situation, and identified good practices and recommendations for improvement, based on desk research and in-country discussions.

The civil protection authorities of the country under review have an opportunity to review and comment on the report during its drafting. The review is completed when the final report including recommendations and good practices is released.

Depending on the administrative organisation and responsibilities at various levels across the Member States and participating states in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a peer review may be undertaken at national and/or regional level.

In the programme cycle 2025-2027 the Commission can carry out up to 6 peer reviews.

Guidance material

To guide the peer review process for both the country/region under review and the peer team, the following key documents are available:

• General guidelines
• 10 November 2025

Disaster Risk Management - Peer Review Assessment Framework (PRAF)

The DRM PRAF describes the disaster risk management thematic areas that are to be peer reviewed. The 7 thematic areas are: (i) Disaster risk governance, (ii) Risk assessment, (iii) Disaster risk management planning, (iv) Prevention, (v) Preparedness, (vi) Emergency response, and (vii) Recovery and lessons learnt. The country or region hosting a review can select all or a subset of the thematic areas to define the scope of their respective peer review.
The framework also assists the structuring and drafting of the peer review report. Its flexibility allows it to be applied beyond peer review contexts (e.g., policy development; capacity-building; technical assistance) and for self-assessment.

English

(9.71 MB - PDF)

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• General guidelines
• 25 May 2023

Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework (Wildfire PRAF)

The Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework (Wildfire PRAF) is a tool designed to facilitate thematic reviews of wildfire risk management systems, within the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. It builds on the general Peer Review Assessment Framework (PRAF) (It focuses on the risk associated with large-scale unplanned or uncontrolled wildfire fires affecting natural, cultural, industrial, and residential landscapes.
The framework also serves as a self-assessment tool for countries and regions to analyse their own systems for wildfire risk management.

English

(14.42 MB - PDF)

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• General guidelines
• 20 May 2025

Peer Review Guidelines

This document provides the essentials for an effective peer review. It clarifies the principles that drive the process, the roles and responsibilities of the different actors involved, the workflow to be followed, and the tools available.

English

(4.49 MB - PDF)

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Peer-reviewed countries

To date, 19 countries and 1 region have benefitted from a peer review: the United Kingdom, Finland, Bulgaria, Georgia, Türkiye, Estonia, Malta, Poland, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Tunisia, Serbia, Algeria, Portugal, Romania, Republic of Moldova, Greece, Italy and Land Brandenburg (DE) and Kosovo.* 
Find links to all peer review reports in the list below.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Peer Review reports