Working Together for Safety: Strengthening European Civil and Military Preparedness and Response Capabilities

Key Chapter Title List

1. Interpreting Current Crises, Anticipating Future Threats
2. Ensuring EU Functionality Across All Scenarios
3. Ensuring Speed of Action with Structures and Procedures Aligned to Objectives
4. Empowering Citizens, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Preparedness Foundations
5. Fully Unlocking the Potential of Public-Private Cooperation
6. Outsmarting Malicious Actors, Countering Hybrid Attacks
7. Expanding European Defense Investment, Unlocking Dual-Use Potential
8. Building Trust and Resilience Through Firm EU Diplomacy and Partnerships
9. Advancing Joint Investment, Leveraging the Economics of Preparedness

Document Introduction

Europe's security environment has deteriorated sharply in recent years. The confluence of multiple crises, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and extreme climate events, has exposed the vulnerabilities of the EU and its member states in civil and military preparedness. This report, led by Sauli Niinistö, Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission and former President of Finland, has the core objective of assessing the complex challenges facing the EU amidst a turbulent geopolitical landscape and proposing systematic recommendations to strengthen civil and military preparedness capabilities.

The report revolves around five core questions: how to improve risk identification and early warning mechanisms to drive coordinated action; how to mainstream civil and military preparedness across sectors to break down silos; how to ensure relevant capabilities are adapted to the prevention, response, and recovery needs of various crises; how to promote civil-military synergy, public-private partnerships, and international cooperation; and how to enhance risk awareness and resilience among citizens and society. The analytical process integrates existing EU work across multiple domains, such as crisis management and the implementation of the Strategic Compass, and is based on extensive consultations with EU institutions, member states, international organizations, the private sector, and academic think tanks.

The report introduces the concept of "Comprehensive Preparedness," defined as the ability of the EU and its member states to effectively anticipate, prevent, withstand, and respond to major cross-border and cross-sectoral shocks. It establishes three key assessment criteria: threat severity, likelihood of occurrence, and required capabilities. The core framework encompasses nine dimensions: crisis interpretation and threat anticipation, ensuring EU functionality, optimizing operational efficiency, citizen empowerment, public-private cooperation, hybrid attack response, defense capability enhancement, partner resilience building, and preparedness investment strategy, forming a complete action system covering concepts, structures, mechanisms, and capabilities.

Key findings indicate that the EU currently lacks a clear response plan for armed attacks against member states and has insufficient capacity for cross-institutional and cross-sectoral resource coordination. The report emphasizes that preparedness must become a mindset permeating all policy areas, rather than an independent policy silo. It also highlights the need to strengthen EU-NATO coordination, address hybrid threats through a dual-track mechanism of "deterrence by denial" and "deterrence by punishment," and integrate civil and military preparedness into the core of EU budget design, laying the foundation for the EU to become a stronger security actor.