Minister Van Weel launches European resilience coalition
In Brussels today, nine countries launched a joint European resilience coalition at the initiative of the Netherlands. Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands issued a joint statement as a coalition, emphasising the urgent need for a resilient European Union. The coalition says that the EU and its Member States must implement additional measures to strengthen their resilience. The ministers responsible for civil resilience have committed to working together on this effort.
Minister Van Weel: Although we are already working hard on resilience in the Netherlands, it is important not to limit ourselves to national borders. We can also learn a great deal from the countries around us that have made further progress. For this reason, we are launching a ministerial coalition today with countries from different parts of Europe to strengthen our resilience together, for example by jointly reviewing lessons learnt from Ukraine, among others. A resilient European Union empowers us and ensures Europe is prepared for societal disruptions caused by various types of crises.
Responsibility for resilience lies primarily with the Member States themselves. However, crises do not respect borders and coordinated European cooperation is thus essential, including with the European Commission. The countries in this coalition will work closely to strengthen civil preparedness and resilience both in individual countries and across the EU as a whole, following a joint agenda with concrete actions.
Joint statement
The coalition focuses on five priorities. First, it is important that society is resilient and the general public prepares for potential crises. The coalition thus aims to raise residents’ awareness of the impact of such crises and increase their self-reliance. Second, work continues on strengthening critical infrastructure, such as submarine cables and energy supplies. The countries also want to develop a joint threat assessment to help prepare Europe for common threats together.
Another goal is to make existing EU crisis management structures, such as the European Emergency Response Coordination Centre, more effective to ensure a quick and coordinated response to crises. Lastly, the countries want to improve civil-military cooperation, including between the EU and NATO, ensuring efforts to strengthen military resilience are in tandem with civil resilience.
Originally published at https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2025/05/22/minister-van-weel-launches-european-resilience-coalition
