European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Lahbib at the Opening of the European Civil Protection Forum Brussels, 3 November 2026 Allow me to start with a personal memory. Twenty-five years ago, I was in Afghanistan as a young reporter for Belgian television. It was autumn 2001. The war had just begun, and I remember families walking along the roads with everything they owned on thei...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Lahbib at the Opening of the European Civil Protection Forum Brussels, 3 November 2026 Allow me to start with a personal memory. Twenty-five years ago, I was in Afghanistan as a young reporter for Belgian television. It was autumn 2001. The war had just begun, and I remember families walking along the roads with everything they owned on their backs. While I was reporting on those families, Europe made a quiet decision more than five thousand kilometres away, here in Brussels. On 23 October 2001, the EU decided that no country should face a disaster alone. That day, Europe decided to hold out a hand. Twenty years later, Kabul fell. I watched the images from the airport and recognised those same families, those same roads. This time, the European hand was there. Our Civil Protection Mechanism helped six countries fly more than 21,000 people to safety. Most were Europeans, but there were also Afghans whose lives were in danger after the return of the Taliban. For me, that is European civil protection. A promise made quietly in Brussels, kept twenty years later on a runway in Kabul. That promise is kept by all of you here today and in Kabul, where we still have an EU office to assist people. Over the next two days, nearly 2,000 of you, from more than ninety countries, will fill this venue with ideas. You lead civil protection services. You fight fires and pull people out of rubble. Others join us as researchers, volunteers, business leaders, representatives of international organisations. A special welcome to the hundred young people with us. Many of you were not yet born when that decision was taken. But you will shape its next 25 years. You are already helping us build a new European culture of readiness. We all wear different uniforms, or no uniform at all. But we share the same instinct: when the call comes, day or night, we answer. This morning, millions of Europeans are on their way to work or school. They are not thinking about us, and that is how it should be. Our job is to be ready on the day they need us. Let's make these two days count. We are also celebrating a birthday. Our EU Civil Protection Mechanism turns twenty-five. A quarter of a century. That is 25 years of service and 25 years of stories. More than 900 calls for help, and Europe was always ready to step in. Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, pandemics, medical evacuations, repatriations from war zones, and raging wildfires, summer after summer. What started with just a handful of colleagues is today a strong European hand that countries can count on when disaster strikes. To the women and men, my dear colleagues, who built this Mechanism, day and night, over 25 years: this birthday is yours. Thank you for your passion and dedication. I have worked with you for two years now, and I see both every single day. Along the way, three crises changed how we work: the devastating wildfires in Portugal in 2017, COVID-19, and Russia's war against Ukraine. The fires in Portugal claimed 66 lives. That tragedy led us to focus more on prevention. Most importantly, we created rescEU, our European reserve of emergency resources. Ukraine was also a turning point. It became the largest operation in the Mechanism's history. Europe has sent close to 160,000 tonnes of aid, from medical supplies to generators. We have flown more than 5,400 patients to European hospitals for treatment. With EU support, Lithuania even took apart an entire power plant, piece by piece, and sent it to Ukraine. We are not just helping Ukraine. We are learning from Ukraine. Ukrainians keep ambulances running and the lights on under fire. We need to bring those hard-won lessons into our own emergency plans and exercises. These crises taught us a hard lesson: we must be ready for the worst, including armed conflict here in Europe. The calls keep coming. Last year, the Mechanism was activated over 60 times, ten times more often than in its early years. That number alone tells us how much the world has changed. Look at the threats around us. Floods, wildfires, droughts and heatwaves are hitting harder and more often. Europe is the world's fastest warming continent. This summer was the hottest on record, with an estimated 50,000 heat-related deaths, the deadliest this century. Heat is a silent killer. It feeds wildfires that now threaten our cities, as we saw around Bordeaux and Madrid. This summer, I saw the flames myself in Belgium's High Fens natural reserve. Across Europe, our Civil Protection Mechanism was activated 12 times for wildfires in just one season. Then there are threats that, not so long ago, seemed unimaginable. War is back on our continent. This summer, a drone carrying explosives was found at Leipzig airport. Hackers target our hospitals, our communications, our elections. What once sounded like science fiction is now part of our daily security reality. We are not at war, but we are not at peace either. We live in a dangerous grey zone, and that grey can turn red in the blink of an eye. We must stay alert. Last year in Spain and Portugal, the power went out for millions of people, and hospitals switched to generators. A crisis can jump from one sector to the next, and one crisis can trigger another. That is why the founding promise of our Mechanism matters more than ever: European solidarity. I simply call it: being there for each other when it matters most. Yet we still too often look at risks from behind our own desks. Disasters don't care about our borders, and they certainly don't respect our job descriptions. They cross our bureaucratic boundaries much faster than we do. That is why we are all here: to break down those walls before a crisis does it for us. If we want to be there for each other in a crisis, we must start preparing long before it strikes. Last year, we adopted our EU Preparedness Strategy. We need to spot danger earlier, act before it is too late, and work together across borders and sectors. Everyone has a part to play. So what has changed? We are now putting preparedness at the heart of everything we do. We call this “preparedness by design”. The idea is simple. Before we spend a euro, we ask: does this make Europe better prepared and will it still work under pressure? We are now putting that question at the heart of EU policies, laws, programmes and investments. But preparedness does not live here in Brussels. It begins in every European home. Every citizen is a link in the chain, and many want to do their part. This spring, 150 randomly chosen people met in our European Citizens' Panel on Preparedness. They brought fresh ideas and a clear message: people want to be part of the solution. Two of them, Giuseppina and Kimy, are here today, and you will hear from Giuseppina in the next session. This brings me to an important announcement today. We are publishing new preparedness guidelines in four areas to support EU countries and Participating States. The first is on being able to manage for 3 days in an emergency. These guidelines help people look after themselves in those crucial first hours, while help is on its way. I have seen excellent national guides in Ireland and Czechia in recent weeks. The second is on teaching preparedness in schools, with training for teachers. Learning what to do when the siren sounds should be as natural as learning to swim. Through play and routine, we can teach children to be prepared, not afraid. The third is about making preparedness inclusive, for instance, for people with disabilities. When I meet people with disabilities, they tell me what worries them. What if I can't hear the alarm? What if the lift stops working and I can't take the stairs? In an emergency, these can be matters of life and death. These guidelines help authorities and first responders make sure everyone is included in their planning, warnings, and response. A prepared society leaves no one behind. The fourth guideline is on how we communicate risks. People need to know what to do before a crisis and where to find information they can trust. In an age of deepfakes, that matters more than ever. Good information cuts through fear. We want people to be alert, not alarmed. Prepared, not afraid. This is how we build a culture of preparedness. One that gives people confidence, rather than filling them with fear. That is why I am proud to announce that I will propose to the Council and the Parliament an EU Preparedness Day, every 23 October, the day our Mechanism was born. The first edition should take place next year, and I am counting on all of you to bring it to life. This will be your day. A birthday is also a good time to look ahead and write the next chapter together. Last year, we proposed changes to our Civil Protection Mechanism, with new tools and funding to help us prepare for emergencies and respond faster and more effectively. We need strong funding in the next EU budget, so EU solidarity is more than a promise. It must be there when people need it. That is what our citizens expect. Just before joining you this morning, I opened the first meeting of the PreparEU Advisory Group, announced by President von der Leyen in her State of the Union address. Senior experts and scientists will advise us on how Europe can prepare for future disasters, especially the growing threat of wildfires. This brings me to our firefighters and rescuers. The more I meet them, the more I admire them. They are the backbone of civil protection. They run towards danger when the rest of us run away. They risk their lives to save others, and too often pay a heavy price with their own health. Today not far from here, firefighters are demonstrating for better working conditions. We hear them. Their concerns matter. Everything I have mentioned so far rests on one word: trust. Trust is the superglue that holds us together. A family trusts that help will come. A country trusts that its neighbours will answer. A Portuguese firefighter trusts the Greek crew beside her on the fire line. That trust can save lives. But you cannot build it in the middle of a crisis. You build it before the flames spread or the floodwaters rise through training, exercises, and in rooms like this one. That is why pre-positioning firefighters in high-risk areas before fires break out is so important. I want to expand this programme. Preparedness is now a crucial part of European security, and we need each of you. What we do at EU level is only part of the answer. Preparedness is a national responsibility and a task for all of society. It has to take root where people live in every community. I encourage you to use these two days to meet someone you would not normally meet. Step outside your usual circle. If you are a firefighter, find a scientist. If you are a mayor, find a business. Don't just leave with new ideas. Leave with new partners. I began with families on a road in Afghanistan, carrying everything they owned on their backs. Let me end with another picture: Europe, 25 years from now. A grab bag by every front door, as normal as a first-aid kit in the car. Every child knows what to do when the siren sounds. Every town hall knows who to call. And when the water rises or the forest burns, help crosses the border without hesitation. To the young people here: help us build this. Many of you will be running our crisis centres. You will be the ones answering the call. Twenty-five years ago, Europe made a promise: that no country should face a disaster alone. We are here to keep that promise. We will keep holding out that hand for the next 25 years. SPEECH/26/2320 <@rel_link@>
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