Brussels, 21/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE) adopted, on 20 February, the report by Giles Chichester (ECR, UK) on renewing the mandate of ENISA, the European Network and the Information Security Agency. The vote endorses the agreement reached with the Irish Presidency on 29 January this year (see EUROPE 10775). “Cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism together form one of the greatest threats to our prosperity, security and safety. Both the risks and the threats are evolving continually, and so must our defences. That is why we have decided on the package of these measures to enhance ENISA's resources and role”, said Chichester. The new ENISA mandate will take effect on 13 September 2013.
The new provisions will bring an increase in financial and human resources allocated to ENISA. The agreement reached with the Council will also give ENISA a clear mandate to support the establishment and functioning of a full-scale European Union Computer Emergency Response Team (EU CERT), to counter cyber-attacks effectively. ENISA's administrative seat will remain based in Heraklion (Crete) but a branch office will be set up in Athens with operational staff in order to improve the efficiency of its networking activities. Parliament's request that ENISA should have an executive board and be made more accountable to Parliament was also approved. The agreement requires endorsement by Parliament during plenary session this April. (IL/transl.jl)