EU: PreparEU Advisory Group Set Up to Advise on Disaster Preparedness
The European Commission announced on October 30 the establishment of the PreparEU Advisory Group, tasked with providing strategic advice to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib on how to address accelerating disaster risks, including extreme weather events and wildfires.
The group, announced by von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech of September 16, 2026, is composed of 11 senior experts in EU civil protection and crisis management and 6 scientists and academics from different member states.
It will look at member states' existing capacities under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU, examine the immediate and longer-term impact of natural hazards such as extreme weather and wildfires, technological and other emerging risks, and discuss new capabilities including dual-use assets and a possible European Firefighting Fleet.
The group will hold its first meeting in early November 2026 and aims to present recommendations by spring 2027; its secretariat is based in Brussels and hosted by the Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. Von der Leyen said the exceptional is no longer exceptional and Europe must prepare for everything, recalling that this summer European firefighters worked side by side across borders; more than 686,000 hectares were burnt across Europe this summer and some 12 million tonnes of crops were lost.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：消防员扑救野火（资料图），美国农业部林务局摄，Wikimedia Commons，公共领域 / Photo: firefighters at a wildfire, by the US Forest Service, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
