The Commission proposed a new European Union Critical Communication System Regulation
“What’s the EUCCS all about and where are we in the legislative process?”
On 30 September 2026, the European Commission proposed a new Regulation to establish the European Union Critical Communication System (EUCCS).
This system aims to give European police, firefighters, emergency medical services and civil protection teams secure and resilient means of communication, across borders and in all circumstances, including when terrestrial networks are unavailable.
Every Member State runs its own dedicated, secure communication system for its emergency services. These national systems reach their limits when first responders cross a border or need to talk to colleagues from another country. No European system currently allows critical cross-border communication; which is a major issue. How well responders can communicate determines how quickly they can react, and so how quickly they can save lives.
A “system of systems”
The EUCCS would serve more than 5 million first responders across the EU and the Schengen Associated Countries. It does not replace national networks. Instead, it interconnects them, with interoperability made mandatory. Member States keep full control of their systems, and there is no central data management at EU level.
The proposal pursues one general objective: to enhance Europe’s capacity to react swiftly and effectively to incidents and crises that require a cross-border response or cooperation between different types of emergency services. It sets three specific objectives.
First, the interoperability and operational mobility objective. Responders should be able to communicate whenever, wherever and with whomever they are tasked to cooperate, across borders and across agencies.
Second is the broadband transition objective. The proposal supports Member States in moving from narrowband radio systems such as TETRA to broadband technology, including 5G mission-critical services. This would allow responders to share data, video, messages and geolocation in real time from a single secure device.
Last, but not least, is the resilience objective. Critical communications should reach a high and consistent level of resilience across Member States. This includes backup power, redundant coverage, strong encryption, the exclusion of high-risk vendors from the core of the system, and EU satellite backup for when ground networks fail.
Under the proposal, providers of public electronic communications networks would have to prioritise critical communication traffic during congestion.
Governance would rest with a European Union Critical Communication Group made up of Member State delegates, alongside a System Accreditation Board.
Next steps in the legislative process
The EUCCS consists of two European Commission proposals: the main Regulation, based on Article 87(2)(a) TFEU (police cooperation) and a parallel Regulation, based on Article 196 TFEU, which extends the system to civil protection services and other organisations in charge of public safety.
Both proposals will now be examined by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU under the ordinary legislative procedure. Each institution will adopt its own position before the two negotiate and agree on a final text.
Resilient and interoperable communication between emergency services is an essential link in the emergency response chain. EENA welcomes the Commission’s proposal and will closely follow the negotiations in the European Parliament and the Council in the coming months.
