EU urged to build stockpiles to prepare for pandemic, natural disaster or invasion | European Union

The EU should develop stocks of medicine, generators and raw materials to be better prepared for a military invasion, a pandemic or a natural disaster, said the European Commission.

Describing his very first storage strategy, the EU manager said that on Wednesday, the Member States should also consider emergency supplies for water purification products, equipment to repair underwater cables, drones and mobile bridges to be used in conflicts.

Earlier this year, the European public was invited to store enough food, water and essentials for 72 hours to cope with a military attack, a natural disaster, a power cup or a major industrial accident. As part of the EU preparation strategy, officials determine what governments should store and how to strengthen preparation for health emergency, such as a pandemic, antimicrobial resistance, chemical, nuclear or biological threats.

The plans reflect the covers of the covers, when EU member states have rushed to secure masks and other medical kits, leaving shortages for those who need it most. They are also inspired by a handful of EU governments – appointed by the Commission in Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic – which are known to store goods.

The EU should have regularly updated the non -exhaustive lists of essential goods adapted to different crises, depending on the strategy. By 2026, the EU intends to create a critical raw material center to jointly buy these goods on behalf of the interested companies, which could also be responsible for organizing stocks. The same year, the EU will have a list of medicines and medical technologies to prioritize for joint storage or supply.

A loan scheme supported by the European Investment Bank to encourage small businesses and startups to develop innovative medicines and medical technologies will have its budget doubled at 200 million euros by 2027.

The block also works to develop a wastewater monitoring system which “acts as an early alert radar” to detect infectious diseases before the appearance of symptoms. During the pandemic, public health experts said that wastewater period samples provided a profitable means of assessing health threats.

The EU already has a fleet of fire -fighting aircraft and helicopters, medical evacuation planes, medical equipment and field hospitals. While the European Forest Fire season is intensifying, firefighters still fighting on Wednesday on the outskirts on the outskirts of Marseille, the Commission said that helicopters or additional light planes would be necessary to protect areas newly threatened by forest fires.

The EU commissioner for crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, said: “We know the threats we face … hybrid attacks, electricity failures, extreme weather conditions and the spread of diseases. These are no longer distant risks. This is why we move the preparation of the touch lines to the front line of our defense. ”

The latest strategy comes after the Danish Prime Minister, Put Frederiksen, reiterated his opinion that the EU should be ready to defend itself by 2030. “Russia’s military rearmature means that they could – in the two to five years – constituting a credible military threat to Europe and NATO,” she told the European Parliament on Tuesday.