When disaster strikes near a border, police and firefighters can lose contact the moment they cross it. Brussels wants a 5G network, backed by satellites, to change that by 2036.
The EU put forward plans for a new bloc-wide communication system on Wednesday that would allow police, firefighters and other national emergency services to better coordinate during cross-border crises.
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Currently, first responders across the 27-country European Union mostly rely on radio to communicate, but secure channels normally stop working at national borders, hampering international operations, Brussels says.
"When crisis strikes, our first responders must be able to communicate instantly across agencies, across borders, across Europe," said the EU's commissioner for internal affairs Magnus Brunner.
The proposed "EU Critical Communication System" would see nations move their emergency comms from radio to broadband technology such as 5G — something Brussels says most are already planning to do.
The EU would then ensure national systems can talk to each other by coordinating exchanges through a central hub and set up a monitoring centre to track cyber security risks and support member countries.
Under the plan, EU satellites will serve as back-up were land-bound systems to fail, as might occur during a blackout.
Using broadband rather than radio will enable responders to share video, messages and geolocation in real-time, normally using a smartphone, although the EU plan does not envisage the adoption of any specific device.
EU officials listed wildfires, counter-terrorism operations, drone threats and search-and-rescue efforts in the Mediterranean as examples of instances where the tech could prove decisive.
Military forces would also be able to use the system, if they so wished.
Brunner cited as an example the challenges met during the massive wildfire this summer in Belgium's High Fens nature reserve bordering Germany.
"The moment a first responder had to cross the border, their radio actually stopped working," he said.
In another case, he pointed to a shooting in the Netherlands, which took place just 200 metres (655 feet) from Belgium, that triggered a cross-border police chase "where every minute counted".
But under the current system, the Dutch operational centre in Maastricht could not directly alert its counterparts in Liege, on the Belgian side — and therefore officers on the street.
The commission said the critical components underpinning the system will be developed by European companies.
EU officials speaking on condition of anonymity listed Airbus, Italy's Leonardo and Austria's Frequentis among the companies that had participated in a pilot.
The satellite back-up could be provided by an EU satellite constellation project currently under development known as Iris², they added.
Brussels would like the system to be fully operational by 2036. The plan needs to be approved by member states and the European Parliament.
