The EU recently (Wednesday, 26th March 2025) released its "EU Preparedness Union Strategy," emphasizing emerging realities while clarifying that the goal is not to incite fear. What stands out in this document—beyond its clear and straightforward presentation—is its comprehensive overview of key focus areas and practical approaches, which can be readily adapted to enhance an organization’s Operational Resilience journey.

In the breakout session "Same Storm, Different Boats" session at the Credit Union Managers Association conference with Christie J. , Rachel Power , Natasha Murphy we tried to touch upon having a framework around this and evolving it.

A comprehensive approach to "PREPAREDNESS", across multiple dimensions:

Technology: should prioritize investment in interoperable, secure digital infrastructure
Data: Establish standardized data protection and recovery protocols, like GDPR-compliant backups, to safeguard and restore critical information across borders.
Facilities: Include plans for redundant, geographically diverse facilities to mitigate risks from regional disruptions like storms, floods or earthquakes
ThirdParties SupplyChain: Map and strengthen supply chain resilience by fostering EU-wide coordination with key suppliers and reducing dependency on single-source providers. Understating the liability is critical too.
#Governance: Enforce unified resilience regulations and frameworks (CP140 and DORA), ensuring organisations align their national policies with a proportional/practical and where possible centralized crisis management structure.
Communication: Develop a multilingual, all stakeholder inclusive, communication system to deliver clear, timely updates to diverse populations and stakeholders during disruptions.
Financial Resources: Allocate emergency funds and coordinate financial support mechanisms to organisation's liquidity in crises.
Culture and Adaptability: Promote a resilience-focused culture through training and simulations, encouraging adaptability and learning from past events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent storms that we have had.

This multi-faceted focus aligns with Europe’s strategy to equip Member States and businesses with tools to prevent crises and act swiftly, emphasizing resilience as a core operational principle.