In the US it makes sense for medical bills or a broken car or something but in a country with sane healthcare and public transit, I'm having trouble thinking of anything.
I also live in the PNW, which is way overdue for a >9.0 earthquake. I keep some cash in a safe at home because it could be a week (or more) before phone systems are up and working again for things like gas stations, etc.
There's also natural disasters or unexpected maintenance, appliances dying, roof/plumbing leaking, etc.
In general though, i think for most EU countries a few thousand euros is enough of an emergency fund, depending on circumstances of course.
Other examples:
- car transmission fails at a crucial time such as during travel (now you may need accommodation)
- boiler breaks
- AC failures during summer
Really any major house related or car related issue. You could argue that these are maintenance costs and not emergencies and I would agree, but not everyone approaches these the same. It is also entirely possible for several affordable and expected events to unexpectedly happen at the same time.
getting across a border to a country that isn’t shelling its neighbor, without access to an ATM because they’ve been frozen.
there are a few cases where “hundred dollar bills stuffed in the mattress” is actually the way to go!