The European Union is setting a new milestone in cybersecurity. On Friday 11 December, representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the Commission reached an interim agreement on the draft Regulation on the pooling of resources and expertise in the field of cybersecurity technologies.
Two days earlier, the Member States agreed to set up this new centre in Bucharest, Romania (see EUROPE 12620/14).
The new legislation establishes a European centre of industrial, technological, and research expertise in cybersecurity, as well as a network of national coordination centres.
The European Centre will be responsible for coordinating the funds devoted to cybersecurity with the Member States, and in the most targeted way possible. It will complement the actions of the European Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, based in Greece.
“[The Cybersecurity Competence Centre] will help us reinforce our industrial and technological capacities in cybersecurity, including through projects jointly supported by European and national budgets. And by contributing to a common European cybertechnological roadmap, it will enhance our strategic autonomy at a time when cybersecurity is more needed than ever”, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, was delighted to say.
On Wednesday 16 December, he will present a new package of proposals which will include a cybersecurity strategy, a revision of the Directive on network and information systems security, and a Directive on the resilience of critical entities (see EUROPE 12595/27).
A painful process
Welcoming the compromise reached, Parliament’s rapporteur, Rasmus Andresen (Greens/EFA, Germany), recalled that the regulation had been under discussion for more than 2 years. “It has been a challenge to create a structure that involves all the actors, while also ensuring that EU research funding is aligned with European policy priorities and a clear European vision. After five ‘trilogues’, we have now finally reached an agreement that achieves exactly that”, he said.
Finally, budgetary contributions from Member States will be voluntary. This was a red line from the EU Council. States will contribute financially to the centre only through their participation in joint actions.
On the role of the Commission, another sticking point, the regulation provides for the Commission to have a blocking minority on the Governing Board on all matters affecting the EU budget.
Finally, the centre will have a Strategic Advisory Group, which will be renamed at the EU Council’s request.
Next steps
The compromise will be submitted to Parliament and the EU Council for validation, with a first vote at the level of Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Friday 18 December.
Once the text is adopted, the centre of competence will be established until 2029. At that time it will be dissolved unless its mandate is extended following a positive evaluation and possibly a legislative proposal from the Commission. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)