The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) published a joint study on Thursday 20 October in which they stress the need for a significant increase in funding for cybersecurity.
In practical terms, the study shows that European companies struggle to grow. This is mainly because they have difficulties finding qualified staff. These difficulties, combined with the “fragmentation and low level of public spending on cybersecurity” in the EU due to the “lack of national programmes and strategies” means that the EU is lagging behind in this field.
In this environment, small European companies often turn to Non-Member States to find financial partners due to a lack of investors. Many are also being acquired by other non-European companies, the report says.
The review estimates, for example, that the United States, the undisputed world leader in this field, invests around €1.7 billion more per year than the EU.
To close this gap with the US and Israel, the report calls for the design of an investment platform to “help the cybersecurity sector bridge the funding gap and stimulate economic development in the EU”.
“I am convinced that this investment platform will mobilise considerable additional investment to retain cybersecurity companies in Europe”, concluded EIB Vice-President Kris Peeters. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)