The Renew Europe group in the European Parliament is calling on the European Commission to publish “a comprehensive preparedness guide” and distribute it to all households in the European Union, in a letter sent to the EU institution on Monday 24 March.
This guide would inform citizens about voluntary civic engagement and the practical steps they can take to prepare for crises of various kinds, such as armed conflicts, climate disasters, pandemics and cyber threats. It would draw on initiatives already taken by several Member States - Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and soon France - to foster a “culture of resilience” among citizens and enhance civilian readiness.
According to the centre-right group, a coordinated EU-wide initiative would harmonise preparedness measures, enhance the security of European citizens and reinforce solidarity among Member States.
See the letter from the Renew Europe group: https://aeur.eu/f/g49
See the Swedish initiative: https://aeur.eu/f/g41
EPP. For its part, the EPP group felt that the ‘Preparedness Union Strategy’, which the Commission will unveil on Wednesday 26 March, should provide “the strategic foresight needed to strengthen early warning systems, threat analysis and operational coordination in Europe”.
According to German Christian Democrat Lena Düpont, the strategy will require, for example, “removing the barriers between internal and external security and integrating civilian and military capabilities”. The European civil protection mechanism remains “more important than ever”, said the EPP. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Florent Servia)