On Thursday, 26 October, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) adopted the report by Josianne Cutajar (S&D, Maltese) on managed security services. This text, which concerns activities relating to customers’ cybersecurity risk management or the provision of assistance in this area, amends the Cybersecurity Act and notably contains certain amendments that give the European Parliament a more significant role.
Specifically, MEPs agreed to review the security certification process for cloud service providers. Uninvolved in the certification process until now, the European Parliament would like to be empowered—by replacing the process for implementing acts with that for delegated acts in the adoption of certifications—to approve or reject cloud repositories during their certification.
“Until now, the European Parliament was not involved in the decision-making process on the European certification schemes. We want to change this. After all, the experience with the European cloud certification specifications has shown that the drafting of the specifications of these schemes is not only of a technical nature but involves political criteria—namely, which companies are allowed to get certified under a European scheme. [W]e want the European Parliament to have a say”, commented Angelika Niebler (German), the shadow rapporteur for the EPP.
Furthermore, according to the European Parliament, the European Commission would be responsible for conducting an impact assessment before proposing a cloud certification. This assessment, which would be accompanied by a consultation, is expected to be conducted in collaboration with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
“Proud to have secured a strong majority on the first step towards updating & improving the EU #cybersecurity certification scheme and towards ensuring a resilient Union where cyber attacks are faced with strong collaboration, prevention and preparedness”, commented Ms Cutajar on X (formerly Twitter). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)