One year ago we launched the Preparedness Union Strategy. The idea was simple: Europe must be ready for a more dangerous world. Today that is even clearer because the world around us is more unpredictable than ever.
The war in Ukraine is on our doorstep. Last year was the deadliest since Russia's full-scale invasion began. Missiles and drones are hitting power plants, water systems, heating networks, the lifelines that keep a country alive.
The war in the Middle East is shaking the region, leaving thousands of Europeans stranded and millions worried about rising energy prices.
In just the past few years, we had a global pandemic, hybrid attacks, cyber-attacks, even drones shutting down airports in European capitals.
We have also seen unprecedented wildfires. Last summer, Europe faced its worst wildfire season in decades with more than one million hectares burned, an area larger than Cyprus. Homes lost, forests gone, entire communities threatened.
Wars and wildfires. These are two very different crises that will frame our discussions today and tomorrow, but they teach us the same lesson. When crisis hits, people expect society to keep working: food, water, electricity, hospitals, and communication.
When these systems hold up under pressure, that is resilience. Few countries understand resilience better than Ukraine. The people of Ukraine have shown what it means to keep a country running under fire.
Across Europe, risks are not the same. Spain faces different threats than Finland, and that is normal. Just look at their geography.
One thing is clear: crises do not stay neatly packaged within borders. Fires spread. Cyberattacks jump from country to country. War shakes markets and supply chains far beyond the battlefield. Our response must therefore be collective: leaders from government, business, science, civil protection, civil society, and the military. We count on all of you here today.
Over the past year, we have started putting our Preparedness Strategy into action. Together with Member States, EU institutions, the private sector, and civil society.
In recent months, we have already delivered:
We also created a European plan for health crises, so when the next health crisis hits, we can act faster together. Later this week, we will present a comprehensive new plan on wildfires.
A key part of our Preparedness Strategy is a shift in how Europe builds its policies: preparedness by design. It means embedding preparedness across all sectors right from the start. Whenever we develop a new policy or investment, it must also pass one test: will it still work in a crisis? Will it hold up in a blackout, a flood, or during a cyberattack?
Preparedness must be built-in right from the start, not added later.
