The industry committee of the European Parliament voted in favour of strengthening the EU’s cybersecurity capacity with a new EU-level competence centre.
The committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE) of the European Parliament (EP) adopted the report on a regulation establishing the European Cybersecurity Industrial Technology and Research Competence Centre in a vote on 19 February. The Members of Parliament want Europe to increase its digital autonomy and turn cybersecurity into a competitive advantage for the European industry. The new competence centre will connect to a network of national-level competence centres, which will strengthen the cybersecurity capacity of member states.
The EU-level competence centre will act as a facilitator for the work at the national level and coordinate the implementation of the cybersecurity elements within the Digital Europe Programme (DEP) and the Horizon Europe Programme. It will drive cybersecurity across the entire value chain from research and skills development to deployment and provide support and financing to users including SMEs across the EU. The national centres will ensure the participation and dialogue with society and the private sector.
The proposal for the regulation establishing the Cybersecurity Competence Centre is accompanied by a Commission impact assessment submitted to ITRE on 12 September 2018, and follows on from several steps undertaken by the European Commission (EC) with regard to cybersecurity. These include the adoption of the cybersecurity strategy in 2013, the creation of a public-private partnership in 2016 and the implementation of the 2018 Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (NIS). It is also in line with a roadmap “Cybersecurity Research: Challenges and Course of Action” presented by secUnity at a launch event in Brussels on 5 February 2019, which is supported by the entire security community.
The proposal for the cybersecurity competence centre has evoked reactions by several stakeholders. Digital Europe welcomes the competence centre and the network of national coordination centres as an initiative with the potential to harmonise the fragmented cybersecurity market and increase the EU’s competitiveness. The same potential is recognised in a position by the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) values the proposal in an opinion to the Council of the European Union and highlights it as an important step towards developing an industrial strategy for cybersecurity and achieving a robust and digital autonomy in Europe. This autonomy is essential in the light of cyberwarfare and its threats for the European political, economic and social systems.
Switzerland cannot take part in this EU initiative, but is at the same time establishing its own national competence centre for cybersecurity. On 31 January 2019 the Federal Council announced the launch of a national contact centre for cyber-risk related matters. The centre will be led strategically by a dedicated delegate of the Federal Council for cyber issues, who remains to be appointed. The new structures will allow to support government institutions with cyber knowledge related to prevention, standardisation and regulation, and will also be directly involved in the actions against cyber incidents and help to integrate the cantons, economy and academia into protection against cyber risks.