Use of JRC tools in support of EU PSA missions

As part of the EU Counter-Terrorism Agenda, the Commission supports EU Member States providing advice on potential vulnerabilities of major, high-risk events, taking place at public spaces or critical infrastructures. The EU Protective Security Advisor (PSA) initiative, based on a permanent pool of more than 100 specially trained EU Member State and Commission experts, facilitates security through dedicated, tailor-made vulnerability assessments.

The EU Vulnerability Assessment Checklist serves as a common standard for these vulnerability assessments and has been used in various assessments across the EU.

How does the JRC supports EU PSA missions?

JRC supports these missions through technical/scientific advice and a number of specifically developed tools. Currently, it is engaged in the transformation of the EU Vulnerability Assessment Checklist into a mobile application adapted for tablets, further simplifying its use in the field.

In addition, several other JRC tools are being established to support EU PSA missions in the near future. JRC offers tool access to interested stakeholders on a need-to-know basis, following a ‘Software as a Service (SaaS) approach’, and therefore providing easy, instant access to authorized users, overcoming compatibility, installation, maintenance or other constraints. Controlled access is conveniently managed via the ‘EU Login’ account.

What other tools are available in support of EU PSA missions?

The JRC has developed an automated vehicle dynamics assessment tool for facilitating vulnerability assessments that focus on the prevention of potential ‘Vehicle as a Weapon (VAW)’ attacks. The identification of vulnerabilities related to VAW attacks are an essential element in providing educated guidance on potential Hostile Vehicle Mitigation measures.

For evaluating vehicle approach routes and its potential velocity at a specific location of a site where VAW attacks are considered a threat, a vehicle dynamics assessment is performed. Such an assessment can be done either manually, as for example in the cited JRC publication [1], or in an automated fashion through a recently developed application, the so-called Vehicle Ramming Tool, that will be made accessible via the JRC E.3 webpage to authorized users.

The Vehicle Ramming Tool supported the vulnerability assessment performed during a fruitful collaboration between DG HOME D.2 and JRC E.3, in a joint EU PSA mission to the 83rd edition of the Stuttgart Spring Festival in Germany in April 2023. The venue location, the ‘Cannstatter Wasen’, spans several square kilometres and attracts annually million visitors during multiple periodical events.

The assessment results were presented to local authorities and can serve as an input for planning an enhanced Hostile Vehicle Mitigation strategy at the event location. This occasion also provided the JRC the possibility to further test the tool in a particular complex public space environment.

Way forward and next steps

Following the tool’s rollout, it will be integrated in the training program for EU PSA experts, thereby providing security practitioners with a hands-on tool to support their vulnerability assessments.

[1] JRC Technical Report (2018) Guideline - Selecting proper security barrier solutions for public space protection - Protection against vehicle-ramming attacks, available on request from jrc-public-spaces@ec.europa.eu