EU urges citizens to prepare emergency kits

The EU also plans to introduce a “national preparedness day” to ensure member states remain on track with these readiness plans.

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash

The European Union is urging its citizens to prepare three-day survival kits to ensure self-sufficiency in times of crisis, whether due to natural disasters or conflicts.

The initiative, part of a broader “preparedness strategy,” was formally introduced by EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib and is inspired by Scandinavian models that have intensified their readiness efforts since the onset of the Ukraine war.

The EU’s strategy recommends that every household in the 27-country bloc stockpile essential items such as bottled water, energy bars, matches, ID documents in a waterproof pouch, and a flashlight.

The goal is to prepare citizens for 72 hours of independence in case of emergencies.

National preparedness day

“Knowing what to do in case of danger, gaming out different scenarios, that’s also a way to prevent people from panicking,” Lahbib emphasized, recalling how supermarket shelves were emptied of toilet paper at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The preparedness strategy aligns with recommendations made in a report to the European Commission last year by Finland's former president, Sauli Niinistö.

The EU also plans to introduce a “national preparedness day” to ensure member states remain on track with these readiness plans.

Lahbib demonstrated the initiative in a video posted on social media, showing her own emergency bag containing matches, cash, food, identity documents, and a penknife.

Increased stockpiles

Another key focus of the strategy is to increase stockpiling of essential equipment and supplies, medical countermeasures such as vaccines, medicines and medical equipment, critical raw materials so industrial production of strategic equipment can continue, and energy equipment.

Brussels has already put forward a proposal to boost the stockpiling of essential minerals and is due to release, before the summer, a stockpiling strategy for critical medicines, a competence that lies with member states.

The Preparedness strategy aims to “bring this together and to identify how the stockpiles interact, what are the common experiences to learn from each other,” another senior EU official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

This could entail developing more stockpiles at the EU level for civil protection that would add to existing stocks from the RescEU mechanism.

But “some of these could be at national level, some of them are virtual, basically agreements with the private sector, some of them are physical”.

“That’s a discussion we need to have: what's the best possible configuration to guarantee the ultimate objective of continuation of these vital societal functions under all circumstances,” the official added.

Member states’ efforts

While some European countries already have crisis preparedness measures in place, the EU seeks to unify and coordinate efforts across the bloc.

Sweden advises residents to maintain supplies sufficient for up to two weeks, while Norway’s Civil Defence provides guidelines on household emergency preparedness.

France has announced plans to distribute survival pamphlets to all residents, and Germany is encouraging citizens to convert basements and garages into protective shelters.

Calls for further action

The European Parliament’s centrist group Renew has urged the Commission to go further by distributing handbooks to all EU households, detailing preparation measures for various crises, including conflicts, climate disasters, pandemics, and cyber threats.

“We must prepare for large-scale, cross-sectoral incidents and crises, including the possibility of armed aggression, affecting one or more member states,” the EU’s strategy document states.

By promoting resilience and crisis readiness, the EU hopes to enhance its citizens’ ability to withstand unforeseen emergencies and disruptions.