Whereas 2020 threatens to be the year of stagnation due to the COVID-19 crisis, 2019 was a year of major changes. At European level, a new European Parliament was elected and a new European Commission was appointed by the end of 2019. Within Euralarm, the ‘borders’ were opened to associate members and the strategic objectives of Euralarm were translated into a concrete marketing plan. Also in 2019, a catastrophic fire, this year of Notre Dame, proved that fire safety cannot be taken for granted.
One of the most basic requirements for each of us is defence against harm, no matter what form it takes. Without protective measures, the individuals that make up society are at risk. For decades our industry has worked diligently to develop solutions to prevent and limit the consequences from threats such as fire, theft, property damage and others. In collaboration with public authorities, policy makers, standards and certification bodies and industry associations, our industry works to address society’s needs for safety and security in Europe and globally.
Read more about Euralarm's Priorities and Challenges 2019-2024
It was a year of change for Euralarm, with the new President, Board, General Director and sections leaders in place. And with the integration of the extinguishing section in our overall structure, we are moving forwards in 2019. Based on this strong foundation Euralarm is ready for the future.
Our organisation has a strong European footprint in the security, fire and extinguishing industry, through our members we have the best experts in the industry. It is up to us to guide Europe to the next level.
One of the most basic requirements for each of us is defence against harm, no matter what form it takes. Without protective measures, the individuals that make up society are at risk. For decades our industry has worked diligently to develop solutions to prevent and limit the consequences from threats such as fire, theft, property damage and others. In collaboration with public authorities, policy makers, standards and certification bodies and industry associations, our industry works to address society’s needs for safety and security in Europe and globally.
We, the members of the European fire safety and security industry and committed Europeans, want to contribute to driving sustainable growth that will strengthen the EU’s Single Market, attract investment to Europe, and expand global markets for European companies. To do this we are continuously assessing the opportunities and the challenges facing us to identify the priorities that will allow us to advance as a prosperous, safe society and global actor.
Working together, we can achieve a safer and more secure society for Europe and build a industry that contributes to sustainable growth in Europe.
We are proud to be world leaders in our field. Ours is a forward-looking industry that relies on constant innovation and major investment to provide the best solutions and services that ensure safety and security for Europe.
Over 90% of our members are small- and medium-sized enterprises. All our members with their skilled workforce rely on the priority areas as listed above to design, install and maintain those solutions and provide the necessary services to ensure performance at the highest level.
At the moment, our members face a fragmented landscape for testing and certification of their products and services. This adds to costs as companies have to submit multiple applications. It also risks having an inconsistent approach to testing and certification across the EU’s single market.
Pan-European processes for testing, audit and certification would reduce administrative burdens for fire safety and security companies, the vast majority of which are small- and medium-sized enterprises. A European wide process would allow companies to avoid uncertainty and encourage investment if they only had to submit their products and services for testing and certification to a single authority.
We therefore urge the EU institutions, test laboratories and certification bodies to work with the industry to make progress in these and other areas:
Digitalisation is already having a huge impact on our industry and this trend will continue to grow in the future. Cybersecurity, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are crucial issues for our sector. We and our customers need to take them carefully into account when planning for the future. All participants in the value chain need to be sensitised to the importance of increasing resilience in the face of cyber-attacks. At the same time, the potential of AI needs to be carefully assessed to maximise opportunities this technology offers.
We therefore urge the EU institutions to work with us in the following areas:
Standards for products and services are at the heart of our industry’s success. Euralarm’s members need a fast and flexible standards-setting system because it is the best way to serve the interests of customers, the industry and society. An agile system would help us to respond rapidly to customers’ demands and put European companies on the best footing to serve global markets. It would help us to continue to deliver the highest levels of safety and security to citizens.
Our members will work closely with the key players — European Commission, standards organisations, approval bodies and other organisations — to write the standards that will deliver the highest quality products and services as efficiently as possible.
We therefore urge the EU institutions to work with us to deliver an efficient system that responds to market needs.
Here are some of the areas we would like to see progress over the next five years:
Ensuring that the European electronic fire safety and security industry remains a global innovation leader requires high-quality research. The industry will continue to fund R&D efforts but to maximise the quality, scope and potential societal benefits of this research, collaboration and cooperation with the public sector will be crucial.
We therefore urge the EU institutions and research bodies to work with us in the following areas:
"From cybersecurity to standardisation, this collaboration helps us advocate the right policy framework for the future."
"WAGNER decided to permanently engage in Euralarm’s activities with special respect to matters of fire safety, contributing to reduce trade barriers and to enhance competitiveness and harmonisation of the European market."
Euralarm
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CH 6300 Zug - Switzerland
E-mail: secretariat@euralarm.org
Swiss Commercial Registry Number: CHE-222.522.503
Euralarm represents the fire and security industry, providing leadership and expertise for industry, market, policy makers and standards bodies.