The European Committee of the Regions' (CoR)
discussed the role of cities and regions in
reinforcing the resilience of critical entities
during its plenary session on 1 July. To ensure a
comprehensive approach, each Member State should
have a strategy prepared in cooperation with local
and regional authorities, setting out objectives
and policy measures based on an assessment of all
natural and man-made risks that may affect the
provision of essential services.
Critical entities are operators of infrastructures that
are essential for the functioning of our society and
economy. Although the bulk of legislation in this field
is set at EU or national level, local and regional
authorities best know the territory and have major
responsibilities protecting the areas in which critical
infrastructures are located. While the presence of
critical infrastructure provides an opportunity for
local development, it also poses a risk in the event of
a disaster, with potentially serious impact on local
communities, the environment and the economy.
Mario Guarente
(IT/ECR), Mayor of Potenza and rapporteur of the
opinion on the
Resilience of Critical Entities
, stated that: "
It is imperative that critical infrastructures are
adequately protected against a wide spectrum of
threats, be they natural or man-made, unintentional
or with malicious intent. Critical entities must be
resilient wherever and whenever disruptions appear.
To this end, communication and reporting measures
with regard to risk levels should be promoted
vis-à-vis the local administrations and the people
living in the areas concerned. Particular attention
should be paid to the condition of existing
physical infrastructure for the purposes of
establishing suitable programmes for upgrading the
existing infrastructure or constructing new ones."
Local leaders welcome the fact that the scope of the
proposed directive has been substantially extended to
cover energy, transport, health, drinking water,
wastewater, digital infrastructure, public
administration and space. As resilience concerns all
levels of governance, coordination and good multilevel
cross-sector collaboration for disaster preparedness,
risk reduction and reinforcing resilience is crucial.
Considering the dramatic experiences from the COVID-19
pandemic, CoR members call for the strengthening of
distribution chains for basic necessities by
diversifying distribution networks and increasing the
number of possible suppliers. The opinion also
highlights the need to bolster risk management
governance by promoting cooperation across borders and
between Member States and points to the added value of
local and regional authorities in cross-border
situations, particularly when it comes to understanding
risks and assessing the gravity and potential
consequences of incidents.
Further information:
· Evaluation of Council Directive 2008/114 on the
identification and designation of European Critical
Infrastructure and the assessment of the need to
improve their protection,
SWD(2019) 308 final
Contact:
Wioletta Wojewodzka
Tel. +32 (0)2 282 2289
Mobile: +32 (0)473 843 986
wioletta.wojewodzka@cor.europa.eu