A large-scale EU civil protection exercise is bringing together 235 first responders from Austria, Czechia, Estonia, France, Romania and Ukraine, from 28 September to 2 October.
Alongside academic institutions, the teams are testing their ability to work together in a complex scenario combining floods, contamination and conflict-related hazards. Known as ‘CROSSFLOOD’, the exercise is organised under the EU civil protection mechanism and takes place in Suceava County, Romania. The EU is providing almost €1 million to cover 90% of its cost.
Regular EU exercises are one of the actions set out in the Preparedness Union Strategy to strengthen Europe’s readiness for complex crises. CROSSFLOOD also reflects the Strategy’s all-hazards approach, preparing for situations where different risks can interact and compound one another.
The political importance of preparedness was underlined again by President von der Leyen in her State of the Union address earlier this month, when she stressed that Europe needs to ‘step up dramatically on preparedness’. The exercise will be followed by a evaluation to draw lessons for future emergency response operations.
