Gov't adopts organization and functioning of the Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience

The Government adopted in its Wednesday's meeting a decision on the organization and functioning of the Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience, as well as for the completion of Government Decision no. 16/2017 on the organization and functioning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), shows an MAE release.

"By creating and making operational the Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience, Romania is contributing to supporting NATO and EU efforts to strengthen resilience, and our country has the potential to become a pole of excellence and a provider of expertise in this field for NATO and the EU, the member states of these organizations, and their partners respectively. The concept of resilience is particularly important for both NATO and the European Union, being an important component of the security field, as well as an important factor in protecting democracy. For Romania, ensuring strategic resilience, both at state and society level, is a priority at the national, European and allied levels," Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu was quoted as saying in the release.

The quoted source states that Romania's initiative on the establishment and hosting of the Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience (E-ARC) occurred in the context in which national and NATO and EU assessments reveal the need to intensify joint efforts to effectively manage a wider spectrum of challenges.

"E-ARC will promote the objectives of Romania, NATO and the EU in the field of resilience and will facilitate a comprehensive response at the governmental (whole-of-government) and society (whole-of-society) level for the complex threats that characterize the security environment," the release read.

Specifically, according to the MAE, E-ARC will represent a platform for an integrated strategic approach in terms of resilience and will allow the development of programs and initiatives in the field, focused on three pillars: combating and reducing risks through anticipation and adaptation; development of analytical tools and good practices; practical cooperation in research, education, training and joint exercises.

For a start, the release says, E-ARC will function as a national public institution with legal personality, subordinated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and will be open to the participation of other EU, NATO states or partners of these organizations wishing to join the process, for the coordination of actions and capitalizing on good practices in the field.

"Romanian and foreign researchers and experts, recognized for their expertise in the field, will carry out their activity within the Center based in Bucharest. E-ARC will actively cooperate with both public institutions and the private environment, with the university one and with the civil society in order to facilitate the development of an approach regarding the resilience at the level of the society," according to the same source.

The MAE mentions that in the first stage of activity, E-ARC will operate a series of working groups on the following topics: society resilience; resilience in the field of emerging and disruptive technologies; resilience of communication systems and new technological ecosystems; resilience to complex crises and emergencies; resilience to ensure continuity of governance and essential services; resilience of transport infrastructure; the resilience of NATO and EU neighbours to the anti-Western influences of state and non-state actors.