Brussels Asks Every Household to Be Able to Cope Alone for 72 Hours and Proposes an EU Preparedness Day on 23 October

The European Commission on Tuesday published new guidelines asking EU governments to help every household cope on its own for at least the first 72 hours of a crisis, while public help is being mobilised. Hadja Lahbib, the Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, presented them at the European Civil Protection Forum in Brussels on 3 November, and announced that she will propose an annual EU Preparedness Day on 23 October, starting in 2027.

What Brussels actually published

This is not the first time the Commission has mentioned 72 hours. The idea first appeared in the Preparedness Union Strategy of March 2025, which set out 63 actions. What is new is the detailed guidance behind four of them: 72-hour self-sufficiency, preparedness lessons in nursery and primary schools, preparedness that includes people with disabilities, and clearer risk warnings from the authorities. They sit in a Commission communication dated 30 October and four working documents.

The guidelines are not binding. They are written for national civil protection authorities, which remain in charge of what people are told. The Commission says the 72 hours should be seen as a minimum, and that the point is to get people started, gradually and affordably, not to fix an exact timeframe.

In her speech, Lahbib pointed to the day "last year in Spain and Portugal" when "the power went out for millions of people, and hospitals switched to generators", as an example of one crisis setting off another. Her aim: "A grab bag by every front door, as normal as a first-aid kit in the car."

What goes in a household supply

The 72-hour guidance lists the essentials:

• food that keeps at room temperature and can be eaten with little or no cooking or water;
• stored water for drinking, basic cooking and hygiene;
• another way to light the home and keep it warm or cool;
• medicines and first-aid supplies;
• hygiene and sanitation supplies, including a plan for using the toilet;
• a battery radio and fully charged power banks;
• cash, including small notes and coins, in case card payments fail.

The Commission keeps two things apart: supplies for staying at home, and a grab bag for leaving in a hurry, with identity documents, cash and basics. It also suggests a household plan: written contact numbers, a meeting point in case phones are down, and the nearest safe place.

What Portugal's civil protection already advises

The Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil (ANEPC, the national civil protection authority) already gives similar advice. Its earthquake leaflet, "Sismos: prepare-se e proteja-se" (in Portuguese), lists a backpack kit for the first hours or days after a disaster: first-aid kit, usual medication, water and non-perishable food, hygiene products, a change of clothes, a radio, torch and whistle, a phone power bank, family contacts, copies of important documents and cash. It also says to keep water and tinned food for two or three days at home and to agree a family meeting point.

The 2025 blackout showed why this matters: our report on how long the blackout lasted for each customer has the figures, and a failed tender for 780 backup generators for parish councils shows how patchy local backup power remains.

What happens next

National authorities now decide how to use the guidance. The Commission will also study preparedness among low-income households, with results due in 2027, and will seek a joint declaration with the European Parliament and the Council on Preparedness Day. A cheap first step: put a battery radio, a torch, some cash and copies of your residence documents in one bag, and tell everyone at home where it is.