Industry has a role to play in Europe’s cybersecure future

Today, the EU Telecommunications Council agreed a general approach on the Cybersecurity Act indicating the Council’s intention to take urgent action against Europe’s cybersecurity threats.

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer commented: “We are pleased that the Council has prioritised improving the security of Europe’s digital economy. Regretfully, no formal mechanism for industry consultation was set up in the proposed certification framework. But it is industry that has the technical expertise, information on threats and market knowledge that are needed to make this initiative a success. We are calling on legislators to enable industry to actively play a role in developing the cybersecurity schemes that Europe needs.”

The Council favours a voluntary cybersecurity framework but has also left the door open to enable the EU Member States to make certain schemes mandatory.

“Promoting industry involvement and favouring a voluntary system would aid the responsiveness of our cyber defences. This is important to protect against the rapidly evolving threat landscape. Permitting Member States to decide whether a scheme is mandatory or not will also frustrate this and not achieve harmonisation,” added Beyrer.