I527-290 ESRIF Final Report (WEB).indd - European Commission

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6.5 Recommendations and Conclusions
Although society should continue to try to persuade people to respect one another through diplomatic and social means,
there will likely always be those who threaten and use violence as a means to their ends. Because of this unfortunate fact, the
community needs to prepare for facing and recovering from awful threats like CBRN. The analysis performed by ESRIF WG6
reveals that an important number of shortfalls in capabilities, from technical, organizational, and societal in nature, must be
fi lled to achieve this goal. The working group advises that the EC take initiatives to effi ciently and cost-eff ectively enhance
Europe’s ability to overcome CBRN incidents.
WG6 recommends that EU establish dedicated CBRN expert centers to gather and distribute information and experience .
Such centers should guide education of EU citizens on how to prepare for and respond to crises. The centres could have a
coordinating role in multi-disciplinary R&D and knowledge management. Knowledge management systems should be in
place to enable exchange of experiences, identify best practices and lessons learned (from small-scale incidents, training,
and simulations), and design doctrines for proper responses. EU should create a network of laboratories (e.g. forensics,
standardized testing and evaluation). By doing so, instalment of CBRN expert centers contribute to member state resilience
towards CBRN threats.
The EC is recommended to develop methodology and build infrastructure for intensifi ed exchange of sensitive information
like threat awareness, dual-use potential of emerging technology and trends in radicalization. The EC should promote a full
system-of-systems approach to CBRN(E) counterterrorism following the full CBRN security cycle, including shared situational
awareness, a robust interoperable fi rst response . Emphasis should be on integration of this approach into other hazard areas
the security community has to cope with.
On an EU level, networks must be established to monitor transport and trade of CBRN agents, raw materials, and related
equipment, preferably supported by new or improved international treaties.
EU should fund and sustain a security industrial policy to create adaptive and modular solutions that are required for dealing
with consequences of rare events.
Finally, EU member states are advised to agree on a number of offi cial planning scenarios for states and public organizations
to be the basis for security policy, development of doctrines, identifi cation of capabilities and gaps, R&D strategy, and
training and exercises.
ESRIF FINAL REPORT - PART 2 • Working Group: CBRN