L 52/42 Official Journal of the European Union 25.2.2005 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 27 October 2004 approving the exchange of letters between the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the Commission of the European Communities concerning their cooperation in the framework of disaster response (in case of simultaneous interventions in a country affected by a disaster) (Text with EEA relevance) (2005/160/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 302 thereof, Whereas: (1) The establishment of cooperation with the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in the field of civil protection and humanitarian affairs is a reflection of a consistent policy of seeking a stronger relationship and co- operation with the United Nations, as underlined in the Commission’s Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on ‘Building an effective partnership with the United Nations in the fields of Development and Humanitarian Affairs’ of 2 May 2001 ('), as well as the Commission’s Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on ‘the European Union and the United Nations: The choice of multilateralism’ of 10 September 2003 (3), (2)  Past experience emphasised the need to establish the basic principles for further cooperation and coordination between UNOCHA (including its emergency response system and coordination tools) and the European () COM(2001) 231, 2.5.2001. () COM(2003) 526, 10.9.2003. Commission (in the framework of the activities of the Community Civil Protection Mechanism as set up by the Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom () and the activities of ECHO- the European Community Humani- tarian Department (¥)) when both simultaneously provide or facilitate assistance to a country affected by a natural or man-made disaster, in an attempt to cooperate effi- ciently, maximise the use of available resources and avoid any unnecessary duplication of effort. (3)  The Commission and UNOCHA have negotiated a text of an exchange of letters concerning their cooperation in the framework of disaster response (in case of simul- taneous interventions in a country affected by a disaster), which is proposed for approval, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Single Article 1. The exchange of letters between the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UINOCHA) and the Commission of the European Communities concerning their cooperation in the framework of disaster response (in case of simultaneous interventions in a country affected by a disaster), contained in the Annex, is hereby approved. () O] L 297, 15.11.2001, p. 7. () Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 (O] L 163, 2.7.1996, p. 1). Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 284, 31.10.2003, p- 1).