Crises and crisis phenomena in modern Europe and civil society

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes the EU's focus on civil preparedness and crisis management, and the request from the Polish EU Presidency for an exploratory opinion on the role and experiences of civil society organisations in this context;

• stands ready to convey civil society’s perspective on next steps through follow-up opinions;

• emphasises the need for a mindset shift to foster a culture of preparedness across society and generations;

• stresses that preparedness initiatives must aim to a just and sustainable peace, addressing the root causes of conflict and fostering conditions that promote dignity, equal opportunity and social progress;

• highlights civil preparedness as essential for resilience but insists that EU and Member States remain responsible for citizen protection;

• recognises civil society’s diverse roles across Member States and calls for the development of a shared understanding between civil society and government at Member State level of each stakeholder’s respective role and responsibility;

• stresses that civil society contributes to preparedness in many ways including trust building trust, social cohesion, active citizenship, awareness-raising, risk identification, reach out to vulnerable groups, volunteers' mobilisation, humanitarian support, and safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms;

• urges the European Commission and the Member States to provide the necessary conditions for civil society to participate, contribute, and engage on an equal footing with other stakeholders when developing civil preparedness;

• urges proactive investment in civil society in times of peace to ensure resilience and crisis response capacity in more difficult times;

• expresses concern over shrinking civil society space and threats to democracy, and calls for a comprehensive strategy and action plan;

• emphasises the need for transparent public funding for civil society preparedness, including capacity building and crisis support;

• recommends lowering barriers for cross-border cooperation to enhance crisis response and assistance.