6.11.2014 Official Journal of the European Union L 320/1 II (Non-legislative acts) DECISIONS COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 16 October 2014 laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism and repealing Commission Decisions 2004/277[EC, Euratom and 2007/606/EC, Euratom (notified under document C(2014) 7489) (Text with EEA relevance) (2014/762[EU) 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 the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (!), and in particular Article 32(1) thereof, Whereas: (1)  The general objective of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (Union Mechanism’) is to strengthen the co- operation between the Union and the Member States and to facilitate coordination in the field of civil protection in order to improve the effectiveness of systems for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters. (2)  As disasters can strike at any time, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) established under Article 7 of Decision No 1313/2013/EU should ensure at all times close contact with the contact points of Member States. (3)  The Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) is an essential element of the Union Mechanism because it should guarantee authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of information exchanged among the Member States under routine conditions as well as in emergencies. A separate version of CECIS providing access to the secretariats of the regional sea conventions and third countries sharing a regional sea basin with the Union should be created in view of the specificities of the response to marine pollution incidents. (4) In order to ensure operational effectiveness, minimum requirements should be defined for the modules, other response capacities and experts identified in accordance with Article 9(1) of Decision No 1313/2013/EU, as well as for their operational requirements, functioning, and interoperability, as provided for in Article 9(2) of Decision No 1313/2013/EU. In particular, modules should be capable of working self-sufficiently for a given period of time, be quick to deploy, and interoperable. In order to enhance the interoperability of modules, measures are needed at Union and Member State levels. () OJL347,20.12.2013,p. 924.