“It is quite possible that disaster relief will also be needed within the EU,” said the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, to the editorial network Germany (RND).
The EU works with two scenarios, according to Lenarčič: “If only a small number of member states are affected by an incident such as a blackout, other EU states can supply power generators through us, as happens during natural disasters,” said the commissioner. If a large number of countries were affected at the same time, so that EU countries would have to cap their emergency aid deliveries to other member states, the Commission could meet the needs from its strategic reserve.
This reserve for crises when there is a shortage of the goods needed across the EU includes firefighting aircraft, generators, water pumps and fuel, but also medical equipment and now medicine, Lenarčič told RND. “We already learned during the corona pandemic that we cannot wait until a crisis occurs to react and are therefore now trying to predict future crises,” said the commissioner. “Even before the war, we prepared ourselves against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies,” says Lenarčič. “We have now been able to deliver 5 million iodine tablets to the Ukraine for the residents of threatened nuclear power plants.”
All EU member states, but also all other countries in the world, can apply to the EU program for civil protection for help in the event of forest fires, floods, earthquakes and similar acute crises. Aid with material and equipment from other EU countries will then be covered by the program under Commissioner Lenarčič coordinates and forwards. In an emergency, this can be done on the same day, emphasized.
