Thursday

21st Sep 2023

EU to beef up cybersecurity agency

  • Europe faces some 4,000 cyberattacks a day, Juncker said. (Photo: Yuri Samoilov)

A European Commission official confirmed to EUobserver that Jean-Claude Juncker's proposal to set up a European Cybersecurity Agency is in fact about increasing the mandate of an already existing agency.

The Commission president proposed to set up a European Cybersecurity Agency on Wednesday (13 September), without mentioning that the EU already has an agency dealing with that subject.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

In his annual State of the European Union speech, Juncker noted that Europe faced 4,000 ransomware attacks per day last year and that the new agency should "defend" the bloc against these attacks.

"Cyberattacks know no borders and no one is immune. This is why, today, the commission is proposing new tools, including a European Cybersecurity Agency, to help defend us against such attacks," he said.

He did not mention the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (Enisa), an EU agency that was set up in 2004.

Enisa, which is based in Greece, issues opinions and recommendations and recently received additional tasks.

Under a directive adopted last year, Enisa was tasked with assisting national governments in developing national cybersecurity strategies, if they asked for it.

The agency was also given the task of organising the secretariat of a new pan-EU cooperation group. However, it has no mandate to fend off cyberattacks.

Juncker meant to say that Enisa should be beefed up, rather than that a new agency should be set up.

The EU commission has previously announced that, by this month, it would "review the mandate of Enisa to define its role in the changed cybersecurity ecosystem".

The commission official said Enisa "will be reinforced so that it can assist EU countries which face cyberattacks and prepare them with annual cyber exercises", the official said.

EU to force firms to report major cyber attacks

Negotiators from the European Parliament and national governments have reached an agreement on new cyber-security rules. Amazon, Ebay and Google are expected to be affected.

Interview

Greece keen to keep EU cybersecurity agency

Greek official welcomed proposal to give the agency a bigger role, downplayed its kitchen sink problems, and said he was himself the victim of a computer virus.

Interview

EU 'underestimated' cyber-crime

"Cybercrime is growing much, much faster than I think we anticipated," the EU commissioner for security, Julian King, told EUobserver.

AI will destroy more female jobs than male, study finds

About four percent of global female employment is subject to potential automation through generative AI technologies, compared to only 1.4 percent of male employment. The trend is even more pronounced in high-income countries, a new study reveals.

Column

EU lobbying clean-up — what happened to that?

Six months after Qatargate, as institutional inertia and parliamentary privileges weigh in, the sense of gravity and collective resolve have all but disappeared. MEPs show little enthusiasm for reform of the rules that today allow them significant outside paid activities.

Latest News

  1. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers
  2. EU aid for Africa risks violating spending rules, Oxfam says
  3. Activists push €40bn fossil subsidies into Dutch-election spotlight
  4. Europe must Trump-proof its Ukraine arms supplies
  5. Antifascism and fascism are opposites, whatever elites say
  6. MEPs back Germany's Buch to lead ECB supervisory arm
  7. Russia to blame for Azerbaijan attack, EU says
  8. Fresh dispute may delay EU-wide migration reforms

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us