The European Commission presented its proposal for the creation of a Joint Cybercrime Unit (see EUROPE 12747/8) to MEPs in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) on Thursday 1 July.
The Unit, based on inter-State cooperation and with offices in Brussels, will take the form of a virtual and physical platform. It will include experts and specialists who can be deployed to the field in the event of incidents in one or more Member States.
“This proposal is timely. This technical cooperation platform will help bridge the gap we have identified”, said a Commission representative.
The proposal was welcomed by the different political groups in the European Parliament. “Any option would be better than what we have now”, said Christian Ehler (EPP, Germany).
However, several MEPs questioned the willingness of Member States to match the European Commission’s level of ambition. “We need more of Europe to deal with threats. Do you think Member States will play along?", asked Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (S&D, Portugal).
On this point, the European Commission was optimistic, illustrating its words with the cooperation between Member States during the attack on the Irish health system last May. The same applies to the relationship with the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), which will provide the secretariat for the Unit.
“There should be no discussion about who is the leader or who has the most power”, warned Evžen Tošenovský (ECR, Czech Republic).
The European Commission stressed that collaboration between the two structures would be necessary, but that the new entity would go beyond civil matters to include aspects of “law and diplomacy”.
On 23 June, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton estimated that the operational launch of the new Unit should take 12 to 18 months, with a fully established Common Cyber Security Unit expected by June 2023.
See the European Commission’s proposal: https://bit.ly/3gMSaIL (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)