Enhancing Europe’s capacity to react – preparing the European Critical Communication System

From terrorist attacks, incidents at the border and large-scale accidents, to floods and fires: responding to cross-border emergencies requires fast, smooth teamwork and reliable communication. The European Critical Communication System (EUCCS) is a major initiative to make Europe safer and better connected in times of emergency. It will integrate communication systems used by first responders across the EU and Schengen area, including law enforcement, firefighters and medical emergency responders. This summer, the Commission plans to propose legislation to establish EUCCS as announced in the work programme. Technical work has been ongoing for many years to bring this system to function.

The initiative builds on EU-funded projects, the latest of which is the ISF-funded EUCCS Preparation Project, which will establish a modern, reliable European critical communication system that will help those who keep us safe and secure. Police, firefighters, medical teams and other emergency responders will be able to carry out challenging missions wherever they are, whenever they need to and in cooperation with each other.

Currently, Member States use systems for communication during emergencies that do not work in the territory of other Member States. When crossing an internal border in the EU and Schengen, the communication of first responders currently stops functioning. That complicates the international collaboration during daily operations, and even more during disasters and major incidents. The EUCCS Preparation Project brings together experts from EU Member States and Schengen countries to test new technologies, ways of working and shared procedures. These could support smoother cooperation and create a more resilient system that emergency responders can rely on in the future.

This is why EUCCS is part of the European Union's plans to strengthen cooperation, resilience and protection for all citizens. The project is currently undergoing active trials. One of the latest trialstook place in Italy, where teams from different countries and services role-played realistic scenarios, such as a vessel interception and multiple emergencies, to assess how new mobile communication tools support real-time collaboration. This exercise showed what works in teamwork and technology, as well as areas where procedures could be improved, providing practical insights into how responders communicate under pressure.

Find out more about EUCCS preparationin your country and check how this project connects with national initiatives and local partners.

Duration: current stage 2022 - 2027, with planned extension for deployment

Country: All EU Member States and Schengen associated countries

Budget: currently EUR 18 000 000, EUR 17 000 000 invested in preliminary research between 2015 and 2022

EU contribution: between 80 and 100%

Fund: EUCCS Preparation is funded by Internal Security Fund, the preliminary research (2015-2022) was funded by Horizon 2020

Policy: Internal Security

Project information: EUCCS Preparation

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