In 2024, almost 450 million citizens from across the European Union will have the opportunity to elect their representatives to the European Parliament and shape the agenda for the rest of the decade. These EU citizens spend 90% of their time in buildings, at home, at work or for other activities, in their home country or in other EU Member States in which they freely travel for work, studies or tourism. They expect an equal level of fire safety in any European building.

The undersigned organisations believe that the European Union must play an important coordinating role in fire safety as it impacts and is impacted by several of its core objectives.

The free movement of EU citizens is one of the fundamental EU freedoms. Every person, whether they are a resident, a tourist, or an Erasmus student, deserves and expects a consistent level of protection and safety wherever they might be within our borders.

Moreover, striving to meet the objectives of the EU Green Deal, the European Union needs to properly address the emerging safety risks linked to electrification solutions and other modifications of the built environment. This is needed to avoid slowing down the deployment of innovative decarbonisation and sustainability solutions in EU buildings.

The EU’s involvement in the field of fire safety is also deeply interwoven with principles surrounding the Single Market. The European Union has a responsibility to ensure that products within this market are not only efficient and affordable but also safe. Overseeing product safety and market surveillance is a significant facet of the EU’s role.

Furthermore, through the collation of data, shared research, and exchange of experience, the EU offers a unique perspective that will enrich and strengthen the development of knowledge in the field of fire safety and help address common challenges across Member States.

The co-signatories do not want to challenge the principle of subsidiarity in the domain of building codes: Member States should therefore remain free to design their fire safety regulations by considering the local specificities in terms of building design solutions, materials, use patterns and climate. However, the undersigning parties believe that action on fire safety in buildings goes beyond building codes. The European Union can support Member States by having a coordinating role on fire safety to realise its objectives related to its shared and supporting competences in the fields of tourism, energy, environment, human health, and consumer protection.

The Manifesto Keeping EU citizens fire safe in all buildings can be downloaded from the Euralarm website.

The Manifesto is undersigned by Euralarm, ANEC, BSEF, CoGDEM, Concrete Europe, EAPFP, Eurolux, Europacable, European Fire Safety Alliance, European Fire Sprinkler Network, Eusas, FEEDS, Fire Safe Europe, IWMA, Modern Building Alliance, Pinfa, RICS and SFPE.