The European Commission announced, on Wednesday 6 April, the establishment of strategic reserves to improve the EU’s preparedness and response to potential Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats.
This is a strategic stockpile of €540.5 million, which will be established within the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, in close collaboration with the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).
This stockpile will consist of equipment and medicines, vaccines and other therapeutic products to treat patients exposed to CBRN agents, as well as a strategic reserve of ‘RescEU’ to provide decontamination equipment and specialised response teams to countries that request them.
The decontamination reserve will be hosted by Croatia, Germany and Spain and financed 100% by the EU with an initial budget of €66.7 million.
“We are taking concrete measures to increase Europe’s preparedness in the face of potential threats. We are setting up both a decontamination reserve and a new stockpile of equipment tailored to chemical, biological or nuclear emergencies. Our aim is to provide rapid response capabilities for our citizens if such an emergency ever occurs”, said the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič.
As a first step, before the decision was taken, almost three million iodine tablets had already been delivered to Ukraine through the EU’s civil protection mechanism, with the help of France and Spain, mobilising the ‘RescEU’ medical reserve, according to the Commission.
It added: “The CBRN stockpile is a first step towards establishing better capacities in response to nuclear power plant incidents, chemical facility emergencies, terrorist attacks or the spread of an infectious disease and many more”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)