Faced with heightened global tensions, the European Union has begun pushing for every household in the bloc to have a three-day survival kit at the ready should the worst happen. The kits themselves should include everything from water and tools to IDs.

All EU residents told to prepare 3-day emergency stockpile

As part of its brand-new Preparedness Strategy, the European Commission said it wanted to encourage residents in all 27 member countries, including Germany, to begin stockpiling essential goods and resources. They encourage everyone to take “proactive measures to prepare for crises, such as developing household emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies”.

Specifically, every resident should have a “resilience kit” equipped with food, drink and other necessities to last at least 72 hours. This is to “prepare for large-scale, cross-sectoral incidents and crises, including the possibility of armed aggression, affecting one or more member states,” the commission explained.

In a post on her social media, EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib explained what should be put in this emergency kit. The pack should include food, water, medicine, matches, a radio, essential documents like passports and tools like a Swiss Army knife. As part of the campaign, the EU will also launch a bloc-wide “preparedness day”, which will remind residents to keep their emergency supplies up to date. 

EU on high alert amid rising global tensions

"In the EU, we must think differently because the threats are different, we must think bigger because the threats are bigger too,” Lahbib told reporters. "Knowing what to do in case of danger… that's also a way to prevent people from panicking," she added, harking back to the beginning of the COVID pandemic, which saw a wave of panic buying and shortages at supermarkets.

The measures are seen as a response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the outcome of which has been made more uncertain thanks to the new Trump administration. In an open letter to EU leaders, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc had to be prepared for "various crises, from potential conflict to climate disasters, pandemics and cyber threats".

Germany continues to ramp up preparedness

The scheme itself takes inspiration from Nordic nations and Switzerland, which already have a system of emergency stockpiles. In Switzerland, for example, the government gives every resident within 50 kilometres of a nuclear power plant iodine tablets, maintains a national emergency stockpile of food, fuel, medicine and other essentials, and recommends each resident prepare their own three-day stockpile.

Domestically, Germany has also been ramping up its preparedness amid the ongoing global turmoil. Alongside relaxing the historic debt brake to create a 500-billion euro fund to repair crucial infrastructure and increase defence spending, last year saw the government announce plans to reintroduce a network of public bunkers.