The Commission has received 20 recommendations from the public on strengthening emergency preparedness in the EU

This weekend, the Commission concluded the European Citizens’ Panel on Preparednessin Brussels. After nearly three months of deliberation, the 150 randomly selected citizens, drawn from the 27 Member States and representing the diversity of the EU, put forward 20 recommendations on how to strengthen the EU’s capacity to prevent and respond to emergencies. 

On Sunday, the citizens officially handed them over to the Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, Maciej Popowski. They will now be incorporated into the implementation of the Union’s Preparedness Strategy. 

The recommendations focus on six key areas: 

• risk and crisis communication,
• information integrity,
• inclusion,
• self-reliance,
• engagement,
• education. 

These include proposals to strengthen preparedness training, improve crisis warning and communication systems tailored to individual needs, support volunteering, enhance European self-reliance and resilience, counter disinformation, and ensure more inclusive support for economically vulnerable groups and people with disabilities.  

Among the examples of concrete actions, citizens recommend that the EU and its Member States communicate national guidelines on citizens’ personal responsibilities in preparing for future crises, through door-to-door visits and the distribution of leaflets to households on the 72-hour self-sufficiency guidelines, ensuring that older people and people with disabilities are not left behind. 

They recommend involving local authorities to ensure the message is reliable and culturally appropriate. Furthermore, citizens recommend the adoption of a standardised and universal system of visual and auditory symbols to facilitate the identification of key locations and services in crisis situations anywhere in the EU.      

For further information, the citizens’ recommendations are available on the Citizen Participation Platform.

More information: European Commission.