The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, issued a statement on the crisis response plan presented in Brussels today. “New realities require a new level of preparedness in Europe. Our citizens, our Member States, and our businesses need the right tools to act both to prevent crises and to react swiftly when a disaster hits”. Then she went on to stress: “Families living in flood zones should know what to do when the waters rise. Early warning systems can prevent regions hit by wildfires from losing precious time… Europe stands ready to support Member States and trusted partners in the neighbourhood to save lives and livelihoods”. The plan includes some key objectives and actions, primarily to protect Europe’s essential societal functions. These are the key points: develop minimum preparedness criteria for essential services such as hospitals, schools, transport, and telecommunications; enhance the stockpiling of critical equipment and materials; enhance climate adaptation and availability of critical natural resources such as water; and promote population preparedness. There is also a need to enhance crisis response coordination (by establishing a hub to improve integration among existing EU crisis structures), as well as to strengthen “civil-military cooperation”. Another important objective is to bolster “foresight and anticipation capabilities” to deal with emergencies.