Ádám Karácsony's opinion on "EU Stockpiling strategy: boosting the EU's material preparedness for crisis" has been adopted by the NAT Commission today before heading for the final vote during the CoR May plenary session.

"Stockpiling must remain a backbone of the European Union’s crisis‑resilience strategy, ensuring that citizens maintain uninterrupted access to essential services in times of crisis", Mr Karácsony said after the adoption.

The opinion stresses that recent global crises — from geopolitical shocks and extreme weather events — have revealed critical vulnerabilities in Europe’s supply chains and demonstrated the need for stronger preparedness at all levels of governance. 

“One of our greatest challenges lies in governance: defining who does what, and at which level. Local and regional authorities manage supply chains on the ground — their expertise must be fully integrated into our European preparedness framework”, Mr Karácsony added.

The EU Stockpiling Strategy focuses on filling capability gaps through EU level strategic reserves, reinforcing resilient logistics and transport infrastructure, and deepening civil military cooperation. [PJ1] [MA2] However, the rapporteur insisted that we cannot overlook the importance of subsidiarity and the need to respect Member States’ sovereignty and national security responsibilities. “The strategy moves from a reactive to a proactive approach, using EU-level stockpiling only when it's the most efficient solution to ensure essential goods during crises”.

"Stockpiling is not only about goods stored in warehouses. It is about security, resilience, trust, and solidarity across the Union. We must work to transform local knowledge into reliable and future‑proof supply chains", the rapporteur concluded.