Newsletters

On 26 March, the European Commission and the High Representative launched the Preparedness Union Strategy, with the aim to enhance Europe’s capability to prevent and respond to emerging threats. The Strategy is based on the report by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on the EU’s civilian and military preparedness and readiness, to which CLECAT contributed on transport security-related aspects.

The Niinistö Report concluded that strengthening Europe's civilian and military preparedness is a matter of urgency, given today’s security challenges, including the Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, state-sponsored hybrid and cyberattacks, and sabotage targeting critical infrastructure. To this end, the Preparedness Union Strategy adopts an integrated all-hazards and whole-of-government approach, bringing together both public and private actors. The Strategy sets out 30 key actions and a detailed Action Plan aimed at developing a ‘preparedness by design’ culture across all EU policies.

A key priority highlighted is the need for the EU to strengthen civil-military interoperability, with a particular focus on advancing dual-use infrastructure on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). Another key action of the Strategy is countering hybrid threats, particularly in areas such as economic security, transport, and energy. To enhance strategic autonomy and resilience, the EU will promote cross-border public-private partnerships to reinforce the resilience of critical infrastructure and supply chains.

The Strategy outlines plans for the first comprehensive EU risk and threat assessment, to be finalised by the end of 2026. This assessment will be developed by the Commission and the High Representative with the support from EU agencies, and it will be based on a newly established framework for coordinated risk and threat evaluations across various policy areas.

Source: European Commission