On 26 March 2025, the Commission launched the Preparedness Union Strategy[1], a new Plan meant to create a secure and resilient EU with the capabilities required to anticipate and manage threats and hazards, independently of their nature or origin, and to ensure that European citizens have adequate protection.
In line with the ReArm Europe Plan[2], the Strategy finds its rationale in the increasingly complex and unstable security landscape the EU is actually facing, including rising geopolitical tensions, cyberattacks, sabotage targeting critical assets and foreign interference adding up to the still ongoing consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which showed that the Union’s health services and supply chains can be profoundly disrupted.
Despite the EU has developed and reinforced over time its multiple tools to build structural resilience to tackle some types of risks and to respond to crises in a number of sectors, the European preparedness framework is still experiencing shortcomings like, amongst the others, i) a mostly reactive rather than pro-active crisis management system, ii) a fragmented toolbox, and iii) limits of scale and resources within the existing structures and mechanisms at EU level.
The Strategy, therefore, includes 30 key actions distributed along seven areas of focus to advance towards a real Preparedness Union and to preserve the vital functions of the society in all circumstances.
First, the Strategy highlights the need for EU capabilities to include fully interoperable, end-to-end and multi-hazard early-warning systems based on timely and reliable data to better inform decision-makers on risks and potential interrelated effects. To ensure such approach, the Commission will, on the one hand, develop a comprehensive EU risk and threat assessment integrating insights from multiple policy areas and, on the other hand, develop a crisis dashboard bringing together sectoral rapid alert systems and improving coordination for decision-makers. Furthermore, the Commission will ensure that the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is adequately equipped to produce regular briefings on cross-sectoral risks as well as to identify and analyze their effects.
Second, the Strategy clarifies that, in order to maintain vital societal functions under all circumstances, the EU must adopt minimum preparedness requirements by fully transposing and implementing the Union legal framework, in particular the CER[3] and NIS2[4] Directives, and by revising the legislative framework of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM)[5] to further improve the effectiveness and efficiency in high-impact emergencies requiring a robust response and coordination at European level. Moreover, the Commission will propose a EU-wide stockpiling strategy integrating all existing national efforts, thereby strengthening access to critical resources across the EU.
Third, the Strategy focuses, on the one hand, on enhancing population preparedness by working with Member States, with a particular emphasis on fostering a culture of resilience at national and local level and, on the other hand, on empowering citizens to take proactive measures to prepare for crises by ensuring they can access quality and reliable information and have the necessary skills to evaluate it.
Fourth, the strategy reiterates the importance of public-private cooperation for the EU’s preparedness, ensuring that resources and expertise from all sectors are used effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the Commission will create a Preparedness Task Force drawing on the existing structures in order to gather key stakeholders from, amongst the others, public authorities, business, the scientific community and the civil society and to cooperate on strengthening the continuity management of vital functions and essential services, exchange information on supply-chain vulnerabilities and disruptions and provide frameworks and incentives to help private entities to ensure minimum preparedness requirements.
Fifth, bearing in mind that, in an increasing number of scenarios, civilian authorities need military support, the Strategy encourages Member States to improve the interaction between civilian and military actors without calling into question their respective competences. More particularly, the EU should, on the one hand, further operationalize the Mutual Assistance[6] and Solidarity[7] clauses as well as strengthen its cooperation with NATO and, on the other hand, develop arrangements for civil-military preparedness, which will clarify roles, responsibilities and priorities of EU institutions as well as Member States for preparing for and responding to incidents and crises.
Sixth, the EU needs to reinforce its crisis coordination, building on existing structures such as the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR)[8] and the ERCC, and to strengthen its response capabilities and strategic crisis reserves to address critical shortages and ensure a rapid response. In this regard, the Commission will create an EU crisis coordination hub, with a focus on anticipating and managing the consequences of crises at all levels by working towards a common understanding of their implications and providing support to the lead services.
Finally, Member States should continue to develop bilateral and plurilateral partnerships with EU candidates and neighboring countries and strengthen their cooperation with NATO, integrating preparedness and resilience into their initiatives.