Today's meeting of the NAT commission saw key topics of the European Preparedness Union Strategy, the Critical Medicines Act and the EU Tourism Strategy up for debate. These issues constitute the topics of three own-initiative opinions that are currently in the process of being drafted by NAT and are scheduled for adoption at the CoR's December plenary session. Members of NAT were encouraged to exchange views on each topic and debate any local and regional perspectives that might relevantly inform development of each associated opinion. Key topics for discussion therefore centred on boosting EU level recognition and support for the roles of local and regional authorities in developing crisis preparedness capacities, enhancing critical medicine supply securities and delivering sustainable and resilient tourism industries at local and regional levels, respectively.
As EA Group coordinator for the NAT commission, Mr. Adam Banaszak focused his engagement on the first debate, which dealt with the European Commission's upcoming European Preparedness Union Strategy. Mr. Banaszak asserted that 'EU citizens expect EU level support', describing how the increasing prevalence of natural disasters and geopolitical uncertainties around the world necessitates stronger and more effective building of crisis resilience and preparedness from the bottom up. Mr. Banaszak thus suggested that the EU should provide personnel and financial resources to local and regional authorities to thereby facilitate their preparedness capacity building efforts. He concluded by promoting an approach that builds Europe's resilience upwards from the local level yet is nonetheless globalised in its outlook, arguing that 'We need global solutions, not just European ones'.
Further discussion is scheduled for the debate on 'sustainable and resilient tourism in the European Union', which was curtailed by the meeting's time constraints. At the next meeting of the NAT commission in September, these opinions will have evolved into full drafts and will face voting on their preliminary adoptions by the commission.