At the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday 1 April, MEPs debated the ‘Preparedness Union Strategy’ which was presented by the European Commission on 26 March (see EUROPE 13608/1).
Present in the Chamber, the European Commissioner for Preparedness, Hadja Lahbib, pointed out that the Commission’s strategy “is based on an all-hazards approach, encompassing natural as well as man-made disasters and hybrid threats, which can often take unpredictable forms”.
The EPP, Renew Europe and S&D coordinators welcomed the European Commission’s initiative. “I wanted to congratulate you as a firefighter”, said Gregory Allione (Renew Europe, French).
In line with the Commission’s strategy, the French MEP agreed that “volunteers in civil protection should be encouraged”. According to Lena Düpont (EPP, German), this will involve raising public awareness “through schools” and “public debates”. In her view, we need to “sound the alarm without being alarmist”.
The German MEP defended the idea of an “Erasmus programme for civil protection” and called on the Member States to “take their own security and that of Europe seriously” and to be “ambitious”.
A climate of urgency. Acknowledging the need for the EU to prepare for crises, Diana Riba i Giner (Greens/EFA, Spanish) was surprised that “of all the security challenges, the Commission has chosen to focus its communication on a survival kit”.
By creating a “climate of urgency”, the European Commission wants to make “investment in armaments indisputable”. However, according to the Greens/EFA, security issues are more a question of energy, digital technology and food.
For the European Conservatives and Reformists, Polish MEP Beata Szydło questioned the idea of “centralised management at EU level” in times of crisis, when “we need to act quickly and take decisions immediately”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)