COMMUNICATION ON EU CYBER DEFENCE POLICY
On 10 November, the European Commission and the High Representative put forward a Joint Communication on an EU Cyber Defence policy and an Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0 to address the deteriorating security environment following Russia's aggression against Ukraine and to boost the EU's capacity to protect its citizens and infrastructure. With its new cyber defence policy, the EU will enhance cooperation and investments in cyber defence to better protect, detect, deter, and defend against a growing number of cyber-attacks.
The EU Policy on Cyber Defence is built around four pillars that cover a wide range of initiatives that will help the EU and Member States, including:
- Act together for a stronger EU cyber defence: The EU will reinforce its coordination mechanisms among national and EU cyber defence players, to increase information exchange and cooperation between military and civilian cybersecurity communities, and further support military CSDP missions and operations.
- Secure the EU defence ecosystem: Even non-critical software components can be used to carry out cyber-attacks on companies or governments, including in the defence sector. This calls for further work on cybersecurity standardisation and certification to secure both military and civilian domains.
- Invest in cyber defence capabilities: Member States need to significantly increase investments in modern military cyber defence capabilities in a collaborative manner, using the cooperation platforms and funding mechanisms available at the EU level, such as PESCO, the European Defence Fund, as well as Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme.
- Partner to address common challenges: Building on existing security and defence as well as cyber dialogues with partner countries, the EU will seek to set up tailored partnerships in the area of cyber defence.
The Commission and the High Representative will present an annual report to the Council of the EU to monitor and assess the progress of the implementation of the actions in the Joint Communication on the EU Policy on Cyber Defence. Member States are encouraged to contribute with their inputs on the progress of the implementation measures taking place in national or in cooperation formats. An implementation plan could be set up in cooperation with Member States.
Source: European Commission