Last month, I presented our Preparedness Union Strategy to the European Parliament plenary soon after its adoption. This strategy helps keep people safe, prepared, and well-informed.

Today, the threats facing Europe are more complex than ever – hybrid and cyberattacks, sabotage targeting critical infrastructure, manipulation by information and foreign interference, pandemics and global health threats, and extreme weather. Europe is the fastest-warming continent. The human, economic, and social costs of climate change will increase in the coming years, disrupting trade routes and global supply chains.

Todays crises and disasters cross sectors and borders. That is why no single country can cope with them alone, so we need to act urgently, together, and at all levels. Our Preparedness Strategy proposes an integrated approach that involves everyone, from local, regional, national governments and the EU to citizens, local communities and civil society, businesses, social partners, and the scientific and academic communities.

This Preparedness Strategy is underpinned by thirty key actions. It starts with a clear assessment of risks and threats, so we can get the right information to the right people and turn this understanding into early action. Our EU stockpiling strategy will be a key part of our preparedness, ensuring that critical goods, such as food, medicine, and energy, are available during crises to protect our societies and keep our citizens safe.

We already have strong crisis response tools, but we can no longer rely on ad hoc solutions. We must be more proactive, better coordinated, and more systematic, which means detecting threats earlier and acting faster.

That is why we are setting up a new EU Crisis Coordination Hub to coordinate better when a crisis hits. This Hub will build on the expertise of our Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) to better support Member States in managing todays crises. We are also strengthening our Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) to face the new challenges. This is our protective shield in times of emergency, and requests for assistance, not only in Europe but across the world, have gone up over ten times since the UCPM started in the early 2000s.

Our Preparedness Strategy also addresses climate and environment-related actions. This includes a European Climate Adaptation Plan to support Member States in preparing for climate risks and strengthening their resilience. It also builds on the European Climate Risk Assessment to encourage proactive climate, environment, and water risk management across the EU. This includes supporting people, businesses, and policymakers by using common climate reference scenarios.

It also features a European Water Resilience Strategy that aims to set out a path towards water security and resilience by ensuring, for example, the availability of clean water and better protecting the EU against water-related risks.

Our Preparedness Strategy also includes actions to increase circular and biobased materials in our value chains. This will enhance our independence from imports of critical raw materials, as part of an EU bioeconomy strategy and a Circular Economy Act.

Our Preparedness Strategy also focuses on making sure our citizens are ready and prepared. Preparedness is a collective responsibility, so we need everyone on board – from public authorities, schools and universities to businesses, communities, and citizens. According to Eurobarometer, almost half of Europeans (49%) do not feel informed about disaster risks, and 65% consider that they need more information to prepare.

The EU, working with our Member States, will focus on enhancing the preparedness of our people, particularly for extreme weather events. This includes improving public awareness through information campaigns, educational programs, and online resources.

The EU will also empower citizens to take proactive measures, such as creating emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies. We will also help support effective public warning systems to reach all citizens in a timely manner. Preparedness levels vary among Member States – some have good systems in place while others have gaps. The EU can help coordinate and harmonize by sharing best practices for strong collective preparedness across the EU.

So where do we stand now? We are not wasting time. The implementation of the Preparedness Union Strategy has already started. Our EU Stockpiling Strategy will be adopted at the end of June. Many critical functions of our societies depend on the security of supply and stockpiles, and when a crisis hits, there is a risk that Member States could compete for the same critical supplies. Coordinating and cooperating on stockpiles before a crisis hits will save us valuable time and resources, and it will save lives.

Later this summer, we will revise the legislative framework of our Union Civil Protection Mechanism. This will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of UCPM, and I look forward to a good cooperation with the Parliament on this.

The Commission has also started working on a comprehensive risks and threats assessment. This will allow us to bring the right information to the right people to better translate risk and threat understanding into early preparedness, including climate-related risks.

There is already a lot of valuable work out there, but it is scattered across sectors and institutions. We need to pull all this valuable work together to create a more complete, cross-cutting, and forward-looking picture at EU level. The Commission will also have the possibility to present this risk assessment to you in the Parliament.

You represent 450 million EU citizens. That is 450 million reasons to be better prepared, and I look forward to working with you to make this a reality. I am confident that this Strategy will strengthen the comprehensive preparedness in Europe and make the lives of our citizens safer.