Emergency preparedness

As part of its own-initiative opinion on emergency preparedness, the EESC is organising a hearing to be held in Brussels on 25 May.

The purpose of this hearing will be to gather input from experts and will address the following topics:

  • Are our societies and enterprises sufficiently well prepared to deal with situations where the daily functioning of society is severely disrupted? By way of example, we could mention:

— Disruption of the availability of raw materials resulting from the disruption of production chains or the transport system;

— The operation of sewerage systems, water supply and waste water treatment;

— The operation of communication systems in the event of a power cut in the long term;

— Exit from buildings/lifts in the event of a power cut, or

— Business continuity of industry in the event of a power cut.


  • What would be the impact of these disruptions on the production of goods, the provision of services and, in general, on the economic and social model of the EU?
  • How to strengthen the resilience of companies and ensure business continuity despite threats or other IT incidents that would affect their operations? What is the risk that companies, and in particular SMEs, will be paralysed in the event of serious incidents? What are the solutions to ensure the availability/reliability of infrastructure?
  • What are the costs of emergency situations for enterprises, how can they be mitigated to allow enterprises to continue their daily operations?
  • How to find the best way to address these issues across Europe and what role could the EU play in supporting Member States?

For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat.