22 May 2025
Ambitioned in building a strong interoperable pan European network towards 2030, EUCCS Preparation had the opportunity to share its advancements and its journey since 2014. Marie-Christine Bonnamour, secretary general of PSC-Europe, delivered a joint presentation with Oliver Seiffarth (DG Home), highlighting the work of the EUCCS Preparation ’ partners and the Operational Team towards the realization of a pan-European Critical Communication System, with the aim to build a more resilient and prepared Europe. This is becoming crucial considering the geopolitical context, the hydrometeorological risks we’re facing and overall the current strategy of the European Union that advocates for an all-hazards preparedness and a strong collaboration and intrastate crisis management stakeholders.
First, we’ve insisted on our will to enhance communication between first responders in Europe by allowing EU Member states and some Schengen countries to move from TETRA and Tetrapol systems that turn out to be obsolete now, only permitting voice communication but not video or voice transmissions to MCX systems (Mission critical services). Created in the architecture of LTE/5G networks and used on 3G/4G/5G/Wi-Fi broadband public networks, MCX remains particularly efficient domains such as transport, ports and airports, army and defense. Connected by such a fast and robust network, national telecommunication agencies, PPDR organizations, civil protection agencies, EU agencies (Europol, Frontex..) and ministries will be able to apply this whole-government approach, fostered by the Commission in its EU-Preparedness recent report. Marie-Christine gave a relevant example of how a close collaboration between neighboring countries is key: through Inter System Interface, Norway, Sweden and Finland are able to communicate with each other while a response to a disaster is needed, to the point of sharing a common police station – between Norway and Sweden. If this case of cooperation might sound unusual, it should be indeed a common example of how Europe joins its forces to respond to all types of disasters, 24/7, in order to protect its citizens. Finnish president Sauli Niniistö’s guidance [October 2024] marks a new way of managing crisis at both national and international level. In the framework of the 2024-2029 European political guidelines, EUCCS is committed to contribute to foster this continental resilience.
Sharing our one-decade journey, Marie-Christine raised that we are now in a crucial stage of the project – launching pioneer operations, carrying on innovation, in the goal of being fully operational by 2030. Today, involved in 16 countries across Europe, EUCCS, through R&D projects and tens of workshops works with up to 530 practitioners and 276 PPDR organizations – this whole consortium is aimed and meant to be extended.
Right after, Jos Haemers (Dutch police), Dominick Vansevenant (Brussels Police, PARAGON) and Tero Pesonen (TCCA, Finland) joined CERIS stage around a panel discussion. Focusing on Secure communication for disaster resilience revealed both the operational urgency and strategic relevance of EUCCS in today’s fragmented and volatile security environment. The recent explosion at a Dutch industrial site, which exposed the inability of Dutch and German emergency services to communicate effectively across borders, is symptomatic of a broader European challenge: the lack of interoperable, resilient communication networks for first responders. As several panelists pointed out, this issue remains systemic across Schengen countries. The Belgian PARAGON platform, which integrates national emergency planning, situational awareness, and communication across disciplines, serves as a partial model- but its national scope underscores the need for a scalable, EU-level solution. Tero Pesonen (TCCA) , drawing on Finland’s experience, insisted on the necessity of standardization and long-term political vision, highlighting how early regulatory groundwork (as far back as 2008) enabled Finland to operationalize a national broadband system, now serving over 2,000 responders. This incremental, state-led approach resonates with the Niinistö Report’s call for “Europe as a security provider,” advocating internal preparedness through common capacities and digital sovereignty. Furthermore, Marie-Christine’s intervention drew the discussion toward the future, urging the integration of 5G/6G, non-terrestrial networks, and AI-based solutions into future EUCCS iterations – a direction that aligns with the European Commission’s 2024–2029 guidelines, which emphasize technological sovereignty, resilience, and crisis readiness. This vision also echoes the ProtectEU Communication, which calls for enhanced cross-border crisis management capabilities, notably in the face of hybrid threats, natural disasters, and large-scale emergencies. Ultimately, the panel reinforced that EUCCS is not merely a technical upgrade, but a strategic necessity for Europe’s internal security architecture in an age of rising systemic risks.
Overall, this CERIS edition will have been a great opportunity to meet key stakeholders of crisis management in Europe, from public to private organizations. It has also been insightful and inspiring to see some EU-projects updates and presentations from other key actors in this sector like DG DEFIS: if EUCCS is committed in shaping Europe’s resilience on land via secure communications, programs like GOVSATCOM and IRIS² are needed above the atmosphere by the expertise and technical knowledge it provides.
Arnaud Couture, PSCE
