CZ PRESIDENCY 2022 Welcome speach of DG FRS CZ
Dear colleagues,
from 1st July 2022 the Czech Republic becomes the presidency country in the Council of the European Union (EU) for the second time. In the Framework of the presidency, the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic is responsible for the area of Civil Protection and Critical Infrastructure Protection. Our main priority during the first presidency in the year 2009 was „Raising Awareness of the Civil Protection“. Result was the adoption of the Conclusions of the Council of the EU. Thanks to the Conclusions, an intensive discussion and development have been made in the field of public awareness during major disasters across European institutions of the Member States and candidate states of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
During the current trio presidency of France, Czech Republic and Sweden, we will deal with the actual topics, to which the Member States are recently being most exposed. Active dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected the whole world in the last years, and the current war conflict in Ukraine have become the basis for choosing our presidential priority "Preparedness and response to long-term emergencies". This will be the basis for discussions during the meeting of the Working Party on Civil Protection.
I believe that together with the Member States, the European Commission and the Council of the EU we will find an appropriate solutions to improve the preparedness and response to long-term emergencies and to mitigate their impacts.
Another significant task in the Council of the EU will be to follow the work of former presidencies, which have been intensively discussing the proposal of the “Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the resilience of the critical entities”. The task of the Czech Presidency will be to successfully complete the approval of this legal document.
I am convinced that our joint effort will lead the Czech Presidency to fulfil the set goals successfully.
Lt Gen Vladimír Vlček, Ph.D., MBA
Director General
Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic