Europe must prepare for a reality in which fires, floods, earthquakes, cyber attacks, or sabotage may not occur one after the other, but can strike at the same time and in multiple places. This is the warning issued by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, after a summer in which fires severely tested the intervention capacity of European states.
Brussels now aims to change the way Europe prepares for disasters: less emphasis solely on intervention after the crisis has erupted, and more on prevention, anticipation, and readiness.
"We must be prepared for a world where extreme phenomena occur more often, in more places, and at the same time," said Ursula von der Leyen on Monday during a visit to the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre, as reported by Euronews.
Climate change makes extreme phenomena more unpredictable, and several countries may end up facing serious situations simultaneously, risking exceeding the available intervention resources.
A Summer that Tested Europe
The signals were already visible this year. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated ten times for vegetation fires starting from April. Nearly 800 firefighters were preemptively sent to high-risk areas, and teams from 25 countries intervened during the summer.
Europe has experienced four heatwaves since May.
Approximately 300,000 people were evacuated due to fires this summer, according to the European Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib. "Climate change is no longer knocking on the door; it is already in the room. It is in Europe," Lahbib warned.
Over 600,000 hectares have burned in the European Union since the beginning of the year, according to European Commission data. The area is more than twice the long-term average over the past two decades.
It's No Longer Enough to Intervene After a Disaster
The message from Brussels is that the old model, where resources are mobilized after a fire, flood, or earthquake erupts, is no longer sufficient.
The EU wants the lessons from each crisis to be used to anticipate the next emergency, to strengthen prevention, and to be able to intervene before an incident turns into a disaster.
However, the issue lies in the cost. European states are already under pressure to keep their expenses under control, and negotiations for the EU's future multiannual budget for 2027-2034 are expected to be challenging. Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden are calling for a reduction in the proposed budget.
European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra argues that investments made before disasters are cheaper than repeatedly paying for damages caused by fires or floods.
From Fires and Floods to Cyber Attacks and Sabotage
The preparedness Brussels speaks of does not only concern natural disasters.
The EU is now moving towards a scenario where multiple types of crises can overlap. Alongside fires, floods, or earthquakes, cyber attacks, critical infrastructure sabotage - including energy networks and hospitals - and other hybrid threats are on the same list.
These can affect daily life without appearing as a conventional military attack.
This is also why the European crisis preparedness strategy, presented by the Commission in 2025, goes far beyond firefighters' or rescue teams' intervention.
The plan includes better early warning systems, reserves for emergencies, protection of critical infrastructure, and improved coordination between states.
There is also a component that directly concerns citizens: The European Commission wants the population to be able to cope on their own for at least 72 hours in the event of a major crisis, until public services and intervention systems can operate at normal capacity.
The idea is not that Europeans should prepare for a specific disaster, but for a period where several things can go wrong at the same time. And the warning now coming from Brussels is that this period no longer belongs to a distant future.
G.P.