Operating on the basis of its legal mandate, the NES focuses on ensuring the provision of essential goods and services, i.e. foodstuffs and drinking water, energy, therapeutic products, logistics, and information and communication technologies. The strategy is divided into a prevention and an intervention phase for each supply process.
In the prevention phase – that is to say, when times are normal – the aim is to increase the resilience of supply processes so that state intervention can be avoided for as long as possible. The FONES helps businesses and industry sectors to improve their preparations for a shortage situation and encourages dialogue between all the players involved. At the same time, state measures are put in place for the intervention phase.
In the intervention phase, intervention occurs at different levels, depending on the severity of the supply shortages. The more serious a supply shortage is, the more drastic the instruments and the interventions in the economy. This includes measures to bridge partial shortfalls (supply management), accompanying measures to reduce demand, and distributing available goods and services at a reduced supply level.
