CBRN Safety

The safety and security of the European citizen is something that most of us take for granted. Being controlled at borders such as airports is a matter of routine and we quite rightly have confidence in the monitoring of the European borders to keep us safe. Unfortunately, events like Chernobyl and the SARS virus, although rare, demonstrate that not everything can be stopped at borders and a different approach needs to be taken. Where possible chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials and agents released during an event, either by intention, accident or naturally occurring, should be identified and monitored to allow their impact on the population and environment to be minimised. With this aim a long term programme has been funded by the EU with a budget of €95m (2010-2013) from the Instrument for Stability. The IfS is a strategic tool designed to address a number of global security and development challenges for the European Union. As a result, the EU Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear Centres of Excellence Risk Mitigation Initiative, or CBRN CoE, was created and is managed by the European Commission. The Commission, working together with the European Union’s External Action Service (EEAS), the technical support of European Commission’s in-house science service (Joint Research Centre) and United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) to help implementation, have been working together to make the initiative what it is today.JRC.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen