In an assessment report published on Thursday 29 June, the EU-NATO Task Force on the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure identified four key sectors of cross-cutting importance: energy, transport, digital infrastructure and space.
“The two organisations will continue to cooperate in a complementary and mutually reinforcing manner to build resilience and be prepared to manage disruptions from any source”, the report stresses, pointing out that EU Member States and NATO allies are continuing to improve their preparedness to deal with disruptions to critical infrastructures.
“Both NATO and the EU support their members with guidance, facilitate the exchange of best practices, conduct exercises, provide resources and offer complementary tools to build resilience”, the document adds.
In their report, the experts put forward 14 recommendations for deepening cooperation between NATO and the EU.
They propose, among other things, to strengthen commitment, while making full use of synergies, for example in the event of a major risk or a significant change in the security context. They encourage greater cooperation between the Allies, the Member States and the private sector, in particular on security at the design stage of critical infrastructures and the organisation of specialised discussions based on scenarios.
In addition, according to the Task Force, it is necessary to strengthen the Structured Dialogue on Resilience and the Structured Dialogue on Military Mobility, and to broaden discussions between staffs on cyberspace, space, the sea and energy, and between NATO’s international military staff and that of the EU. In particular, the aim is to deepen understanding of the relevant tools and processes available to each organisation and to analyse the lessons learned from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in terms of critical infrastructure resilience.
Finally, the Task Force states that it is necessary to promote best practices and assessments and to strengthen the monitoring of security implications and cooperation, including between civil and military actors. In its view, there is a need for regular, parallel and coordinated assessments of the threats to critical infrastructures, building on the one carried out in spring 2023.
The EU-NATO Structured Dialogue on Resilience will coordinate the implementation of these recommendations.
To see the Task Force’s report: https://aeur.eu/f/7sv (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)