On Wednesday 9 March, at an informal meeting in Nevers, the Telecommunications Ministers of the EU Member States adopted a joint political declaration on the objectives and priorities for cyber security in the EU (see EUROPE 12846/1). The statement comes against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the risk of cyber-attacks within the EU increasing.
“The crisis we are collectively facing requires us to accelerate the cyber security and overall resilience of our systems and networks. It is a pillar of our sovereignty, our security and Europe’s strategic autonomy”, said the French Secretary of State for the Digital Transition, Cédric O, at the close of the informal meeting.
In concrete terms, the competent ministers intend first of all to build on existing capacities and measures under negotiation. The revision of the directive on a common high level of cyber security in the EU (NIS 2) will therefore - logically - be a keystone in strengthening cyber security in Europe.
The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the Network and Information Security Cooperation Group will be asked to “map” the risks to networks.
In terms of timing, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton confirmed his hopes that the inter-institutional (‘trilogue’) negotiations will be concluded by the end of the French Presidency of the EU Council in June (see EUROPE 12903/18). Without setting concrete deadlines, the European Commissioner also expressed the wish to move forward on the European Digital Shield, presented by the Commission in December 2020.
In addition, discussions and progress are also expected by Mr Breton on security operations centres (SOCs), which should be able to identify, detect and respond to cyber threats.
“This meeting has strengthened us, we are going to move forward in the next few months, we have to move quite fast”, said the European Commissioner.
Still on the subject of ongoing dossiers, Thierry Breton insisted on making progress on the issue of the joint cybersecurity unit (see EUROPE 12815/8).
Increased coordination between Member States
With the establishment of inter-state coordination as a watchword, the Telecommunications Ministers also called for increased mutual assistance through existing networks such as the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) (see EUROPE 12823/11) and its national equivalents.
In addition, the Member State Ministers also called on the European Commission to implement its Cyber Resilience Act. Announced by the President of the European Commission in September 2021, this legislation could be used to establish common standards for connected objects and devices.
“Every connected object, even the smallest, becomes an entry point and therefore an attack point. The whole continent could potentially be attacked”, summarised Thierry Breton.
The political declaration also pushes for increased EU funding to strengthen the level of cyber security. In a complex geopolitical context, the ministers also approved the implementation of a new Cyber Security Emergency Response Fund to be set up by the Commission.
Finally, part of the discussions during this second and final day of the Ministers’ meeting also focused on assisting Ukraine in the area of cyber security and the resilience of telecommunication networks.
On this point, the ministers called on private actors who could provide the IT equipment needed for the normal functioning of the Ukrainian government and the maintenance of telecommunications in the country to mobilise, in “close coordination with their government”.
“This is in response to a request from the Ukrainian government. We are coordinating with the Commission to provide this civilian equipment”, commented Cédric O.
See the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/o3 (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)