MEPs call for public warning to be prioritised in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) broadly welcomed the proposed Regulation on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) during a meeting in the European Parliament on 27 January. While the proposal aims to boost funding, cross-EU cooperation, and build best practices on disaster response and public warning, several MEPs stressed that it must go further in applying lessons learned in recent years in disaster response, particularly on public warning, network resilience, and cross-border emergency communications.
The meeting took place in front of the European Parliament’s Environment (ENVI) and Public Health Committees, which are leading negotiations on the file.
Pascal Arimont, the MEP acting as the EPP lead for the file (also called a Shadow Rapporteur) in the ENVI Committee, has outlined three key priorities for the UCPM; ensuring that early and public warnings can be shared quickly and reliably across borders, improving the resilience of emergency and public warning systems during crises and telecommunications outages, and increased technical and financial support for cross border communications.
As improving the resilience of Europe’s emergency communications and public warning systems is also a major priority for the EU in the Digital Networks Act, Mr Arimont concluded that the UCPM and the Digital Networks Act are therefore closely interlinked.
Ignazio Marino, the Greens Shadow Rapporteur for the file in ENVI, also called for a better European approach to public warning. Mr Marino noted that public warning protocols need to be designed with the needs of older people in mind, who may be more biologically frail, and either lack mobile devices which receive public warnings, or be unable to hear sirens.
MEPs also drew attention to the strains placed on some emergency services due to budget cuts or taxation issues for volunteers, which have undermined emergency response. Grégory Allione, the Renew Shadow Rapporteur, and Nicholas Farantouris, the Left’s Shadow Rapporteur, called for urgent action at a European level to address these issues. Mr Allione also called for the EU to support its own industrial capacity for emergency response, and for clearer communication from the European Commission for its plans to build a crisis hub in Cyprus to ensure faster support can be sent to the island during crises.
Overall, this first public discussion on the UCPM in the European Parliament’s Committees indicates political support for EENA’s own calls for the Regulation, including stricter rules on public warnings and better cross-border cooperation. Using the UCPM to build high-quality public warning systems and ensure they are available in any crisis, including cross-border crises or during telecommunications outages, would be a significant step forward for the safety of Europeans and the overall resilience and preparedness of our continent.
