Commission welcomes agreement to make EU online environment more secure

Negotiators of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission last night agreed on the first EU-wide legislation on cybersecurity. The Directive on Network and Information Security will: improve cybersecurity capabilities in Member States; improve Member States’ cooperation on cybersecurity; require operators of essential services in the energy, transport, banking and healthcare sectors, and providers of key digital services like search engines and cloud computing, to take appropriate security measures and report incidents to the national authorities. Andrus Ansip, Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, welcomed the agreement: “Trust and security are the very foundations of a Digital Single Market. If we want people and businesses to use and make the most of connected digital services, they need to trust them to be secure in the case of attack or failure. The internet knows no border – a problem in one country can have a knock-on effect in the rest of Europe. This is why we need EU-wide cybersecurity solutions. Last night’s agreement is an important step in this direction, but we cannot stop here: we plan an ambitious partnership with the industry in the coming months to develop more secure products and services.” Günther H. Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said: “Congratulations to the Parliament’s negotiation team and to the Luxemburgish Presidency of the Council. The agreement constitutes a major step in improving the resilience of our network and information systems in Europe, one of the objectives of the EU cybersecurity strategy and a cornerstone of our efforts towards creating a Digital Single Market. Improving cooperation and information exchange between Member States is a key element of the agreed rules and will help us tackle the increasing number of cyber-attacks. Cybersecurity is essential in today’s European digital economy and society – and it remains a permanent challenge.” A press release is available here.