The University of Essex contribution:
The University of Essex was a partner in a twelve-member consortium investigating and comparing the civil security and civil protection systems of 22 European countries. The project was funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) from March 2012 to February 2014.
We were responsible for one of the work packages (WP5), dedicated to providing policy stakeholders with an EU added-value contribution in civil security.
Our findings suggest a specific role for the European Union as a facilitator and promoter of trans-boundary cooperation. While standardisation of national structures and processes does not appear helpful or necessary, the EU could play a role in the development of a shared framework used to identify lessons learned and “best practices” in a bottom-up manner.