The European Commission has proposed to the EU Council that it authorise the deployment of support to Ukraine under the ‘European Cybersecurity Reserve’, having found that the country meets the three conditions required. According to the EU Council’s draft decision, dated Monday 18 May, this assistance should be made available immediately and for up to one year.
The Reserve, managed by the EU’s cybersecurity agency (ENISA), provides a support mechanism in the event of significant, large-scale cybersecurity incidents.
“The military aggression was accompanied by ongoing Russian cyber attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, including the targeting of the KA-SAT satellite network, owned by Viasat, on the eve of the full-scale invasion in February 2022”, the draft decision states.
Moldova is so far the only non-EU country to have benefited from this reserve, which is active for all EU Member States.
“ENISA also confirms that the Agency will be ready to deploy the European Cybersecurity Reserve in Ukraine or any other third country associated with the Digital Europe programme, as soon as these countries become eligible for this support. Incident response support is one of the services covered by the European Cybersecurity Reserve. However, ENISA is not in a position to divulge details of the services or users”, ENISA confirmed to Agence Europe.
In accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2025/38, a third country may apply for support from the Reserve only where this is specifically provided for in the association agreement concluded between that country and the Digital Europe Programme, and provided that it fully complies with the relevant provisions of that agreement. The country must also have taken adequate measures to prepare for significant cybersecurity incidents or those assimilated to major incidents.
Finally, the granting of aid from the Reserve must be compatible with the Union’s policy towards that country, its overall relations with it and the Union’s other actions in the field of security. (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)