Bucharest-based Cybersecurity Competence Centre gets green light from Council

The EU is set to boost the security of the internet and other critical network and information systems by establishing a Cybersecurity Competence Centre to pool investment in cybersecurity research, technology and industrial development. The new body, to be based in Bucharest, Romania, will in particular channel cybersecurity-related funding from Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme.

This ‘European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre’ will work together with a network of national coordination centres designated by member states.

The Centre will also bring together the main European stakeholders, including industry, academic and research organisations and other relevant civil society associations, to form a cybersecurity competence community, in order to enhance and spread cybersecurity expertise across the EU.

The Council adopted the regulation establishing the Centre and the network today. This will be followed by a final adoption by the European Parliament.

The new Cybersecurity Competence Centre and network will play a key role in helping secure the digital infrastructure so many of us use every day for work and leisure, as well as information systems and networks in vital areas such as health, transport, energy, financial markets and banking systems. It will also bolster the global competitiveness of the EU’s cybersecurity industry, SMEs in particular, and strengthen our leadership and strategic autonomy in the cybersecurity domain.

Mariana Vieira da Silva, Portuguese Minister of State for the Presidency, Presidency of the Council

The Competence Centre will closely cooperate with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).

Next steps

Today’s vote, taken by written procedure, means that the Council has adopted its position at first reading. The legal act now needs to be adopted by the European Parliament at second reading before being published in the EU Official Journal. The regulation will enter into force 20 days after its publication.

• Regulation establishing the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre and the Network of National Coordination Centres – full text
• Regulation establishing the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre and the Network of National Coordination Centres – Council’s reasons
• New Cybersecurity Competence Centre and network: informal agreement with the European Parliament (press release, 11 December 2020)
• The new European Cybersecurity Competence Centre to be located in Bucharest, Romania (press release, 10 December 2020)
• Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber threats (background information)
• A digital future for Europe (background information)