“Europe cannot afford to remain reactive,” the European Commission will warn in strategy to be unveiled on Wednesday.
BRUSSELS ― Every citizen should stockpile enough food to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours in case of crisis, the European Commission is to warn, according to a draft of its Preparedness Union Strategy seen by POLITICO.
“In case of extreme disruptions, the initial period is the most critical,” the document says, setting out possible scenarios, from war to cyber attacks and deadly disease to climate-driven floods.
Five years since the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and three since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and with natural disasters and financial shocks an ever-present risk, the plan lands as Europe lurches from one crisis to another. “None of the major crises of the past years were isolated or short-lived,” the document says. “Europe cannot afford to remain reactive.”