EU establishes PreparEU disaster preparedness advisory group

On October 30, 2026, the European Commission announced the establishment of the European disaster preparedness PreparEU advisory group to provide strategic advice on disaster risk response to European Commission President von der Leyen and Commissioner Lahbib. The advisory group consists of 11 senior EU civil protection and crisis management experts and 6 scientists and scholars from different member states. It will assess member states' existing capabilities under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU, and study the impacts of extreme weather, wildfires and emerging risks. The first meeting is scheduled for early November 2026, with the goal of submitting recommendations before spring 2027.