Objective: The European Union (EU) responded to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with a long time lag. The response was made on the level of the member states. There was no institution at the EU level that could assist the member states. Italy but other states as well, needed Chinese help. This highlights 2 points. First, the EU is vulnerable. Second, eastern Asia reacted faster to the new demand on the market and introduced effective technology for the mask production. A robust method is needed to overcome the shortage of protective items in the future.
Methods: This method is based on producing the demand within the EU states as the first priority to reduce the reliance from external sources like China that can be competitive and unreliable. This research suggests preventive measures that can make the EU safer. A system for the production of simple protective items is designed.
Results: A relatively small number of factories with high capacities are enough to serve the whole EU in a robust way. The calculation of the optimal selection of locations is fast and easy.
Conclusions: The suggested system will make the EU more secure during pandemics. The presented calculations show that the establishment of the system is feasible.
Keywords: COVID-19; masks; pandemics; production; protection.