The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties adopted its negotiating position on the new rules on critical infrastructure resilience on Tuesday 12 October by a very large majority (57 votes in favour, 6 against, 0 abstentions).
The Commission’s proposal, tabled at the end of 2020, aims to better protect critical infrastructure and services such as energy, transport, banking, drinking water, and the digital sector by improving Member States’ resilience strategies and risk assessments (see EUROPE 12624/2). In particular, it requires local authorities to appoint a single point of contact to communicate with other jurisdictions and to create a new Critical Entity Resilience Group to facilitate communication between stakeholders.
MEPs insist on greater transparency in the event of disruptions, requiring critical entities to inform the general public of serious incidents or risks.
They also call for Member States to be able to provide financial support to critical entities and propose to broaden the definition of essential services so that the environment, public health and safety, and the rule of law are also mentioned.
The EU Council has not yet adopted its negotiating mandate. The European Parliament has yet to confirm this mandate at a forthcoming plenary session. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)