The co-legislating institutions of the European Union are continuing negotiations on the draft regulation establishing a centre for the pooling of investment in research, technology and industrial development in the field of cybersecurity.
While the date of the next negotiating sessions (trilogues) is not yet fully fixed, a new document representing the positions of the parties and dated 3 December is already in circulation.
Initially scheduled for 10 or 11 December, the trilogue could be postponed to 15 December due to parallel negotiations on the Horizon Europe framework programme and other EU Council meetings (see EUROPE 12599/9). There is no doubt that the decision on the seat of the future centre, to be taken by the Member States on 9 December, is also an influencing factor.
The main stumbling blocks on this issue are the following: – the issue of financial contributions from Member States, which the EU27 are keen to keep voluntary; – the possibility of a right of veto for the European Commission in the Governing Board; – and the suitability of an advisory board, which is opposed by the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12537/14, 12095/18, 12437/4).
See the ‘4 columns’ document: https://bit.ly/3qpl18H
Location of seat: Commission evaluation published
The location of the seat of the future centre is also a thorny issue. But the EU Council has decided to reserve that decision for itself. A total of seven cities applied: Brussels, Munich, Vilnius, Luxembourg, Warsaw, Bucharest and Leon, Spain.
The Commission carried out its general assessment of the various applications in light of the criteria and specific issues selected by the Council of the EU. This document, published on 2 December on the EU Council’s website, summarises what was already in the application files. This does not constitute a ranking in any way.
This exercise should nevertheless help Member States to make their choice in view of the vote on 9 December (see EUROPE 12594/8, 12599/9).
See the analysis of candidates for the seat: https://bit.ly/33Cq8ZC (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)