COUNTERING CBRN THREATS: MASC-CBRN CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Modern chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats are multifaceted which can make them difficult to predict and counter. Ensuring sustainable capacities for tackling CBRN threats at the national level requires an all-hazard…

EU: Promoting and Enhancing Critical Entities Resilience

The Directive on the resilience of critical entities (CER Directive) that was proposed by the European Commission in late 2020 seeks to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure to a range of hazards and threats, including natural…

UNICRI: Prosecuting Chemical and Biological Crimes

The United Nations Inter-regional Criminal and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) has recently developed a Prosecutor’s Guide to Chemical and Biological Crimes. This document provides insights and considerations across key elements, associated…

EC: Tackling Foreign Interference in R&I Sectors

The European Commission defines foreign interference as coercive, covert, deceptive, or corrupting activities that are carried out by, or on behalf of, a foreign state-level actor contrary to the sovereignty, values, and interests of the European…

EC: Critical Technologies for Security and Defence

Strengthening the European security and defence technological and innovation landscape is an important element of the process of reducing the EU’s strategic dependencies in critical technologies and value chains for security and defence. The…

EC: Enhancing Security through Research and Innovation

A recent Staff Working Document - Enhancing Security through Research and Innovation - published by the European Commission in December 2021 highlights the role of innovation in support of security policies. Cutting-edge technologies are increasingly…

EC JRC: 2021 Export Control Handbook for Chemicals

Many chemicals used daily in industrial processes or by persons are subject to export controls, because they can also be used to create explosives, nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and thus present a potential threat to…

UNICRI: Proposed Framework for CBRN Security Governance

The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) has proposed a CBRN security governance framework. The framework covers six areas with recommended indicators and metrics: Inter-agency coordination - (1) CBRN…

EU: Annual Report on the 2003 Strategy against WMD Published

The EU has recently published an Annual Progress Report on the implementation of its 2003 Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. If used, nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons cause immense human suffering. The…

EUROPOL: EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2021 Released

The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2021 provides figures on terrorist attacks and terrorism-related arrests in the European Union (EU) in 2020. The report notes that CBRN materials were used in attacks, sometimes in transnational…