Brussels, 28/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the Commission adopted a Communication on the state of preventative alert preparations carried out by civil defence experts facing possible emergency situations. The European Summit in Ghent requested a co-ordinated emergency programme be implemented to counter the threat of possible bio-terrorist attacks in the Union.
This Communication to the Parliament and the Council was prepared by Commissioners Wallström (Civil Defence), Byrne (Health), Busquin (Research) and President Prodi. In it, the Commission outlined what measures it has carried out since 11 September and the anthrax alerts that followed, in an effort to improve the capacity and response of the Community in mobilising its resources and expertise for optimising the Community civil defence and transmissible disease networks and adapt them to the current situation (see EUROPE 21 November page 15). It also announced that it was going to nominate a high level European co-ordinator who would be responsible for managing and co-ordinating civil defence action.
In a press release, Romano Prodi states: "Recent events have shown how important it is to reassure the public that we are ready and prepared, at European level, to react to terrorist threats. The Commission has swiftly extended its existing civil protection system to deal with such threats, be they of biological, chemical or nuclear origin, in an effective and coordinated manner".