The European Commission has launched two initiatives under its Preparedness Union agenda: the EU Stockpiling Strategy and the Medical Countermeasures Strategy. These aim to improve access to essential goods for European citizens, businesses, and economies—ensuring the availability of critical supplies, especially during crises like energy blackouts, natural disasters, conflicts, or pandemics.

The EU Stockpiling Strategy is the first comprehensive EU approach to secure essential goods such as food, water, oil, fuel, and medicines in times of crisis. It will create an EU Stockpiling Network with Member States to share best practices, coordinate supplies, and develop recommendations. The strategy will identify supply gaps and overlaps by improving information sharing and cooperation among Member States and the EU. It also aims to expand EU-level reserves—using programs like rescEU to stock medical gear, shelter, generators, and other vital goods. Better transport and logistics systems will support faster crisis responses, and collaboration between civil, military, public, and private sectors will ensure efficient resource use.

The Medical Countermeasures Strategy focuses on strengthening the EU’s preparedness for health crises. With rising outbreaks, antimicrobial resistance, and threats worsened by climate change and global instability, the EU wants to speed up development, production, and access to critical medical tools. The strategy will advance new flu vaccines, antibiotics for resistant bacteria, antivirals for diseases spread by insects, and access to medical tools for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. It will improve monitoring with a priority list of needed countermeasures, preparedness plans, and wastewater surveillance. Innovation will be supported through programs like the Medical Countermeasures Accelerator, R&D hubs, and HERA Invest. Production capacity will be secured via the EU FAB network and the RAMP UP partnership. Medicine access will be improved through joint procurement and ready-to-use labs. The strategy will also build global and cross-sector partnerships, including civil-military and public-private collaboration, citizen awareness, and workforce development.

Together, these strategies are a major step toward faster, more reliable EU responses to future emergencies.

The EU Stockpiling and Medical Countermeasures Strategies are part of the broader Preparedness Union Strategy adopted in March 2025. Based on recommendations from the Niinistö report, the stockpiling strategy will unify existing national efforts, improve access to critical resources, and combine centralized EU reserves with Member State contributions. Public-private partnerships will ensure efficiency, scale, and cost-effectiveness. The Medical Countermeasures Strategy responds to the urgent need to strengthen EU readiness for all types of threats by boosting development, production, and deployment of key medical tools like vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, and protective gear—helping the EU prepare for and manage health emergencies.