EU Member States will be able to reach a political agreement ('general approach') on the directive on the Resilience of Critical Entities, which is expected to be formalised on 20 December in the margins of the Environment Council, contrary to what we reported in a previous edition (see EUROPE 12846/2).
The draft mandate on this directive, which is intended to improve the preparation of various infrastructures for risks linked to terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and the occurrence of pandemics, was approved on Wednesday 8 December by the national ambassadors of the Member States to the EU. The time needed for translation means that this mandate cannot be endorsed by EU Interior Ministers on 9 December, who will instead take note of a progress report.
This mandate will therefore open the door to negotiations with the European Parliament, which adopted its position in October (see EUROPE 12810/15).
Under the Slovenian Presidency, discussions focused, inter alia, on the adequacy of the legal basis, the exclusion clause concerning national security and defence, the content of strategies and risk assessments to be developed by Member States and critical entities, the process of identifying critical entities, resilience, and risk management.
Another key issue, according to a public document from the Slovenian Presidency, was the interaction of the directive with other legislation, including the NIS2 directive and the proposed regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector.
Among the proposed changes to the text, Slovenia has reduced the scope of this directive and removed the public administration sector, at the request of the Member States. A revision clause will eventually allow this choice to be reversed.
Other elements of the compromise: - an exclusion clause, which allows Member States to specify that the directive does not apply to entities primarily engaged in defence, national security, public security, or law enforcement activities; - the exclusion of the judiciary, parliaments, and central banks from the scope of the directive.
Member States also “welcomed the category of critical entities of particular European importance”, but discussions confirmed the need to clarify the process of identifying these entities, their advisory tasks, and the role of the European Commission.
Link to the general approach: https://bit.ly/3lKU5Q9 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)