The European Parliament adopted a declaration on early warning for citizens in major emergencies, and called on the Member States and the Commission to implement the necessary processes and resources to develop an efficient Early Warning system for citizens in case of imminent or developing major emergencies throughout the EU. It also called on the Commission to present appropriate legislative proposals in this field, taking into account all the risks and policies involved.

Parliament recalled that it is important to have efficient early warning (EW) for citizens in case of imminent or developing major emergencies, with a view to reducing suffering and the loss of human life. The establishment of EW and alert systems has been repeatedly requested by Parliament and is provided for in several existing and upcoming legislative acts. EW systems involve warning authorities by means of regional networks for the prevention of risks (natural, technological, social) and alerting citizens via telecommunications networks (radio, TV, sirens, mobile phones, etc.).

Parliament stated that the EU lacks a general, multilingual, simplified and efficient system for alerting citizens about imminent or developing emergencies, and the implementation of such a system is directly relevant to several EU policies (telecommunications, environment, health, internal security and civil protection) and also affects others (transport, energy and tourism). The EU should establish such a system, in combination with appropriate information and training campaigns, to promote life-saving behaviour among threatened citizens.