Brussels, 29/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - During an official visit to Washington and New York (17-22 September) to discuss future relations between the European Union and the US in the digital sector, the commissioner responsible for the dossier, Neelie Kroes, hailed the common vision shared by the two parties on network and information security at the very moment that the Commission is putting forward a new directive (the SRI directive). Kroes stated: “The US government is just as keen as I am to see us agree on a robust, future-proof directive, able both to protect key ICT infrastructure and defend citizens' freedoms”. In the area of internet governance, the commissioner pointed out that the US and European Union supported a multi-stake holder model and criticised the way in which the current management system (ICANN) operated which was not always “fit for purpose or even linked to the realities of the world around them”. She highlighted the unfortunate decisions taken regarding the “.vin” and “.wine” domain names (see EUROPE 11109). In the context of the digital aspects relating to the TTPI, the commissioner is optimistic and is calling on her US counterparts to focus also on the positive aspects of new technologies and not just the threats that obviously have to be detected and overcome. She emphasised that the real risk was the lack of confidence in the internet. Poor organisation or ill feeling must not be allowed to endanger the economic benefits and immense social benefits flowing from digital technologies and services, she stressed. (IL)