EU announces establishment and composition of PreparEU Advisory Group on European Disaster Preparedness

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission is establishing the PreparEU Advisory Group, tasked with providing strategic advice to President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib, on how to best address accelerating disaster risks, including extreme weather events and wildfires

President Ursula von der Leyen said: “As climate change drives increasingly extreme weather and natural disasters, Europe is here to help. We need to think bigger and learn faster. This is why we are bringing Europe’s most experienced firefighters and emergency responders together – to draw on their experience to make Europe better prepared. From stronger civil-military coordination to the equipment and capabilities we need. They will make concrete proposals to make EU civil protection even more effective. So that European solidarity will always be there when disaster strikes.”

The Group was announced by President von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech of 16 September 2026. It will be composed of 11 senior experts with a background in EU civil protection and crisis management and 6 scientists and academics, from different EU Member States.

The Advisory Group will look at the existing capacities of EU Member States under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU. It will examine the immediate and longer-term impact of natural hazards such as extreme weather and wildfires, technological and other emerging risks and threats, as well as their possible effects on mass movements, emergency health, shelter, communications and the management of consequences arising from critical infrastructure disruption. The Group will discuss prevention and preparedness in the context of the rapidly evolving risk landscape, possible development of new capabilities, including regarding dual use assets and the European Firefighting Fleet.

The Group will hold its first meeting in early November 2026 with the goal of presenting its recommendations to President von der Leyen and Commissioner Lahbib by spring 2027.

The group’s secretariat will be based in Brussels and hosted by the Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.

Background

Europe faces an increasingly complex risk landscape, where natural disasters, climate-related hazards, health emergencies and other crises can have far-reaching and cascading effects across borders and sectors. Addressing these challenges requires moving beyond reactive and hazard-specific responses towards a more proactive and integrated all-hazards approach, with a stronger focus on prevention and preparedness. This is at the heart of the EU Preparedness Union Strategy, which aims to strengthen Europe’s resilience to crises through closer cooperation, better coordination and the involvement of all levels of government and society.

This summer showed once again why strengthening Europe’s preparedness is so important. With wildfire risks rising across Europe, a record number of firefighters, aircraft and emergency experts were deployed this summer to help protect lives, homes and nature. Over 686,000 hectares were burnt. Some 12 million tonnes of crops were lost. This year, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated for wildfires 10 times over the summer for Europe, and twice outside Europe. 41 aerial firefighting assets and 18 ground firefighting teams were deployed.

The EU is also strengthening its approach to integrated wildfire risk management. Presented in March 2026, the Commission’s Communication recognises wildfires must be addressed across the full disaster management cycle – from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery. The EU is investing billions of euros across different programmes to support climate adaptation, forest resilience, prevention infrastructure and disaster risk management. These projects help countries strengthen risk assessment, improve preparedness planning and build long-term resilience against wildfires.

This Communication is complemented by a new framework for climate resilience adopted on 27 October 2026 and a European Heatwave Plan planned for adoption in 2027.

For more information

PreparEU advisory group