On Thursday 21 March, the European Council invited the Council of the European Union to move work forward and the European Commission, together with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, to propose measures to strengthen crisis preparedness and response at EU level as part of an all-hazards approach encompassing society as a whole, taking into account Member States’ responsibilities and competences, with a view to a future preparedness strategy.
The day before, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had asked former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to prepare a report on how to improve Europe's civil and defence preparedness.
In the conclusions they adopted, the leaders stressed the “imperative need for enhanced and coordinated military and civilian preparedness” and for strategic crisis management in the context of the changing threat landscape.
“Our companies do not all have the same level of preparation. There are countries with different cultures, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and others that have less of this tradition”, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, told Agence Europe.
“The challenge is not an easy one, and we must not spread anxiety or panic, but keep our eyes open to threats that are not just military, but also natural disasters, climate change, cyber threats and disinformation. The threats can be varied”, he added.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, believes that greater coordination is needed to deal with crises. His Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo, advocated a more crisis-resistant ‘union of preparation’, along the lines of the Finnish model. “There’s a lot of interest in our expertise”, he added. In mid-March, at the European Parliament, he set out his vision of a crisis preparedness strategy (see EUROPE 13370/17).
Although this point was initially included in the ‘security and defence’ section of the conclusions, it was finally published under a specific heading ‘Crisis Preparedness and Response’ at the request of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who believes that the subject is broader than just security.
See the conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/bhb (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)