"Civil Defence in Europe: An Initial Assessment"
LONDON/STOCKHOLM, 22 April. - (ANA) - "Civil Defence in Europe: An Initial Assessment" published prior to the IISS Stockholm Civil Defence Forum, outlines how Europe is adapting to new and emerging security threats over recent years, how countries are adopting different approaches to a variety of issues threatening civilian infrastructure and wider society and how it is managing the costs of improved defence preparedness.
Jointly published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Swedish Defence Research Agency, the report finds great inconsistencies between European nations in terms of their civil defence capabilities, planning and preparedness.
The following factors, identified as key to this finding, are explored in the report:
- Levels of credible deterrence and resilience are uneven across the continent. Some European nations are in advanced stages of building modern civil-defence systems, others face chronic vulnerabilities.
- The divide between civil and military preparedness is increasingly blurred. Modern conflict targets include digital networks, logistics and public administration so civil preparedness has become a core element of collective defence.
- Defence and infrastructure spending across Europe needs to be judged against two questions: ‘does it make countries and societies safer?’ and ‘will it hold up under stress?’
- Public trust and the cognitive domain have become significant arenas. Failure by authorities to communicate credibly and rapidly allows adversaries to exploit uncertainty, slow down decision-making and weaken compliance with official guidance.
- A fragmented European landscape of government, military and private operators impairs capability and there are institutional challenges in building inter-operational arrangements for effective civil defence.
- Europe can move towards a systemic civil defence model with financial, institutional and political effort, based on public consent, with sustained investment replacing ‘just-in-time’ assumptions.
New for 2026, the IISS Stockholm Civil Defence Forum will bring together political, military and industry leaders to engage in public and private discussions on how to tackle current challenges to modern civil defence, civil-military and multinational cooperation, plus the critical role of industry and technology.
As the development of modern civil defence architectures across Europe becomes an increasing priority for governments and industry, not least given Russia’s direct military and hybrid threats, the IISS, with support from the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden, will convene this inaugural Forum on 21–22 April 2026.
To download the report, visit: file:///Users/alibahaijoub/Downloads/iiss_civil-defence-in-europe_an-initial-assessment_-21042026.pdf
