What is it?
The EU’s early warning and information systems help the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) monitor the global situation. These include hazards such as:
- earthquakes
- tsunamis
- wildfires
- tropical cyclones
In a crisis, having detailed scientific information increases the safety and protection of EU citizens. The EU’s monitoring tools also add to the information available to Member States, helping their emergency services respond more efficiently when disaster strikes.
Why is this important?
Disasters can occur anytime, anywhere. They could be natural, like floods, or human-induced, like industrial or nuclear accidents. But proper planning, monitoring and early warning can reduce potential damage and even prevent their effects from becoming large-scale emergencies.
With the EU’s early warning and information systems complementing the national ones, Member States have more efficient and resilient emergency response mechanisms in place.
They are an important cornerstone of the EU’s strategy to protect people worldwide and minimise the impact of a disaster by linking the pre-disaster and response phases.
When disasters occur or are imminent, alerting the population and emergency services is a priority. This warning needs to be as fast as possible to save lives, protect jobs and preserve the environment. That’s why continuous hazard monitoring and early warning systems are used to better anticipate risks, prepare the necessary resources, and warn people in danger.
How are we helping?
The EU supports Member States in their assessment of hazards by contributing to early analysis and action in real-time. This support is organised around 3 pillars:
- early warning and information systems
- expert scientific partnerships
- mapping services
Early warning and information systems:
Disaster notifications allow the ERCC to provide a comprehensive early assessment of the event. They also enable early action within the framework of EU civil protection both within the EU and worldwide.
- The Global Disaster Awareness and Coordination System provides alerts and estimates impacts of earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones, floods, volcanos, and droughts worldwide.
- These systems form part of the EU’s Copernicus programme:
- The European Flood Awareness System and Global Flood Awareness System develops an overview of ongoing and possible future flooding up to 10 days into the future to support preparatory measures for flood events, particularly in large transnational river basins.
- The European Forest Fire Information System and Global Wildfire Information System forecasts dangerous weather conditions up to 10 days ahead and provides near-real-time information on active fires and burnt areas. These systems analyse the severity and risk that each forest fire poses for the local population and the environment. This allows informed decisions on the deployment of the rescEU firefighting capacity.
- The European and Global Drought Observatories give information on potential and ongoing droughts, including meteorological indicators, soil moisture anomalies, vegetation stress and river low flows.
- Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service (EWSS): a system of of 30 Galileo satellites and ground stations provide geographic positioning information. Through Galileo EWSS, as of 2026, Member States will be able to broadcast alert messages to population, when local Civil Protection authorities deem necessary.
Expert scientific partnerships:
To bridge the scientific and operational communities, the ERCC has established the European Scientific Partnership on Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards. This complements automated warnings with 24/7 scientific expert judgement.
- Natural hazards (ARISTOTLE): The ERCC is supported by the ARISTOTLE consortium, a network oof 23 European institutes with expertise in meteorology and geophysics. They offer multi-hazard early warning services and expert analysis with 24/7 response capacity, monitoring ongoing and anticipated hazards to support effective responses when natural disasters strike.
- Anthropogenic hazards: The European Anthropogenic Hazard Scientific Partnerships bring specialised expertise to the ERCC:
- radiological and nuclear: a consortium of 5 partners that provide 24/7 technical support and emergency reporting for radiological and nuclear hazards. They also provide monitoring in specific situations and serve as back-office support for UCPM missions.
- chemical: for chemical emergencies, the ERCC benefits from specialised expertise from partners in the chemical industry, ensuring and supporting a well-informed response to a wide range of potential chemical hazards.
The EU also works with other organisations such as UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission to help communities in the UCPM and EU neighbourhood develop tsunami awareness and readiness to respond.
Mapping services:
The ERCC provides critical geospatial information to support decision-making, ranging from daily situational overviews to advanced satellite mapping.
- In-house mapping capacity: The ERCC in-house mapping capacity, along with the support of JRC, produces on-demand situational maps to support humanitarian and civil protection interventions. It also produces the DG ECHO daily maps, accessible via the ERCC portal, which give an overview of significant events or situations of operational interest.
- Copernicus Emergency Management Service On-demand Mapping: As the 24/7 focal point for CEMS, the ERCC enables authorised users to access satellite maps within hours of activation to assess disaster extent and impact via the CEMS Rapid Mapping service. Beyond immediate response, the Risk and Recovery service can be activated for preparedness and disaster risk reduction.
- Security and External Action: the ERCC can access Copernicus services supporting EU External and Security Actions. These cover issues ranging from crisis management and conflict to climate security.
- Marine pollution: For acute marine hazards, like oil spills the ERCC collaborates with the European Maritime Safety Agency to monitor oil spills, providing near real-time satellite imagery and vessel detection, automatically alerting authorities to potential spills and their sources.
Facts & figures
Early warning systems:
- save lives
- protect livelihoods
- preserve the environment
The EU operates specialised early warning systems which monitor hazards both in the EU and globally and supports national authorities by complementing national early warning systems.
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has enhanced its capacity to assess and evaluate risks as well as disaster impact by engaging scientific organisations and state-of-the-art technology, considerably boosting its preparedness levels.
Last updated: 16/01/2026