THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
In the Spotlight
+++ CBRN Threats +++
The principle of local ownership and regional cooperation
The EU’s response to CBRN risks and threats by Helga Schmid, Secretary-General, European External Action Service (EEAS), Brussels As a global actor, the EU has always considered CBRN threats and risks to be a major challenge to security and peace. For decades, EU assistance programmes to third countries have been developed in close cooperation with EU Member States and strategic partners in particular with the United States. Building on the lessons learned from Ebola, Fukushima and Syria, the EU has launched a unique initiative – the CBRN Centres of Excellence (CoEs) – an approach based on regional cooperation and inclusiveness involving 57 countries worldwide and embracing the principles enshrined in the 2016 EU Global Strategy.
The EU as an active player Disasters such as Bhopal, Chernobyl, Fukushima or Aleppo have raised CBRN awareness worldwide. The EU was one of the first global players to bring its financial and technical support to the communities affected by such catastrophic events. As the main contributor to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, the first international organization to offer civil protection and humanitarian aid in Fukushima and the first to deploy mobile labs in West Africa to collect on-site Ebola pathogens, the EU has spared no effort to share its knwo-how. However, there is no cause for complacency. In combination with other threats – terrorism, cyber-crime or climate change – CBRN risks are becoming aggravating factors that can paralyze populations, critical infrastructures or energy supply. Without adequate policy planning
and response to CBRN issues, the strategic autonomy of the EU could be at risk. Helping partners respond to CBRN catastrophes requires a clear and coherent EU internal CBRN policy. Since the CBRN Action Plan adopted in 2009, and up to the 2016 Global Strategy, the EU has developed a comprehensive policy framework for preventive and responsive measures. A new objective now is to bridge the gap between CBRN and other threats such as terrorism, organized or crime or cyber threats in order to decrease the likelihood of non-state actors using CBRN materials on European soil or beyond. In this respect, coordination and cooperation with EU neighbours and new regional partnerships, including with NATO, is a prerequisite for an effective strategy.
Lessons learned from Ebola, Fukushima and Syria Defining future priorities requires to look back at what happened and why. In November 2016, during the EU annual conference on non-proliferation, the EEAS chaired a symposium on the lessons learned from Fukushima, Ebola and Syria. It was a moving experience, confronting expertise about what went right and wrong during these tragic events. In the case of Fukushima, one of the challenging issues was the lack of real-time communication between off and on-site (communication was by fax, on paper), to which can be added mistrust between local and central governments. In the case of Ebola, the absence
A health worker in a suit going through a decontamination treatment at the Ebola treatment centre in Conakry (Guinea), run by Médecins sans frontières Source: European Union, 2014; EC-Audiovisual Service/Kenzo Triboulliard
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