The idea was born shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, when the threat of cyberattacks within the European Union had reached its highest point. But the danger, whether it comes from Russia or elsewhere, is constant, and the European Commission intends to make the Member States cooperate more with each other, judging that a union is necessary to strengthen the cybersecurity shield of the Old Continent.
Thus, on Tuesday April 18, it presented a draft regulation on cybersolidarity, which will have a budget of 1.1 billion euros. “For the first time, we will invest together in operational capabilities“said Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday.
A cybershield to detect threats
One of the key points of the proposal is the setting up of a cyber shield made up of several security operations centers spread across the whole of the European Union. Their mission would be to monitor threats, identify them and alert the authorities in the event of attacks.
The Commissioner in charge of the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, wanted to reassure the Member States, indicating that the current cybersecurity operations centers would be kept, and that the new ones would serve “as an interface with what already exists”. Also, the European Commission wants to strengthen Europe’s response capacity. In this sense, it intends to create a cybernetic emergency mechanism, whose mission would be to test the sectors exposed to attacks, such as energy and transport, and to support the Member States financially.
The private sector would be called upon, through companies certified capable of intervening in the event of a major incident. Initially, the plan was to create a “cyberarmy”, but negotiations eventually led to the creation of a reserve, which would intervene in the event of a crisis. Finally, the creation of a European academy responsible for training cybersecurity experts was announced.
Some aspects of the proposal have been the subject of heated debate and opposition from Member States, in particular those relating to the exchange of information between countries. At the beginning of April, all the European governments, except that of Sweden, the current President of the Council of the European Union, moreover asked the Commission to take into account the concerns of the States concerning the conservation of cybersecurity power at the national level. States are reluctant to share their information on cyber threats, fearing that it could then be exploited by economic actors or rival countries.