Q3/2021 - Europäische Union

Thierry Breton, 16. September 2021

State of the Union, Ursula von der Leyen, 15. September 2021

Am 16. September 2021 ging die Präsidentin der EU Kommission, Ursula von der Leyen, in ihrer jährlichen „State of the Union“-Rede mehrfach auf die EU-Digitalstrategie ein.

Im mehr wirtschaftlichen Teil forderte sie erneut die Stärkung der „European Tech Sovereignty“. Die europäische Digitalpolitik sei für die gesamte EU ein „make-or-break issue“. Sie verwies auf die ambitionierten Gesetzesvorlagen der EU-Kommission wie den Digital Markets Act (DMA) und den Digital Services Act (DSA) mit den entsprechenden Vorschlägen für eine modellhafte Regulierung für Internet-Plattformen sowie auf die Pläne der EU zur Regulierung von künstlicher Intelligenz. Dabei ging sie auf die Probleme von Lieferketten im Zusammenhang mit der Verknappung von Halbleitern ein. Sie beklagte die Abhängigkeit der EU von der asiatischen Chipproduktion und kündigte an, dass die EU-Kommission Vorschläge machen wird, wie in Europa entsprechende Produktionskapazitäten gestärkt werden können. Mit einem „European Chips Act“ solle in Europa ein “state-of-the-art European chip ecosystem“ mit den entsprechenden Produktionskapazitäten geschaffen werden. Europe habe mit dem Galileo-Projekt, an dessen Realisierung vor 20 Jahren auch gezweifelt wurde, bewiesen, dass es sichtbare Rückstände aufholen kann[1].

In ihrer Rede ging sie auch auf sicherheitspolitische Aspekte im Cyberspace ein und kündigte eine enge Zusammenarbeit mit der NATO an. Noch vor Jahresende soll es eine gemeinsame EU-NATO Erklärung zum Thema Cybersicherheit geben. Europas Sicherheit müsse neu gedacht werden, da sich die Art der Bedrohungen durch die Entwicklungen im Cyberspace verändert hat. Wenn alles vernetzt ist, sagte von der Leyen, kann auch alles gehackt werden: „The nature of the threats we face is evolving rapidly: from hybrid or cyber-attacks to the growing arms race in space. Disruptive technology has been a great equaliser in the way power can be used today by rogue states or non-state groups. You no longer need armies and missiles to cause mass damage. You can paralyse industrial plants, city administrations and hospitals – all you need is your laptop. You can disrupt entire elections with a smartphone and an internet connection“. Europa müsse auch im Bereich von Cybersicherheit eine führende Rolle einnehmen. It should be here in Europe where cyber defence tools are developed. Die Kommission arbeite an einer neuen European Cyber Defence Policy, die auch entsprechende Rechtsakte und Standards einschließen wird. Die EU-Kommission wird daher den Entwurf eines „Cyber Resilience Act“ vorlegen[2].  

Thierry Breton, 16. September 2021

Als ein Follow-up zur Rede von Ursula von der Leyen präzisierte der zuständige EU-Kommissar Thierry Breton am folgenden Tag in einem Artikel die EU-Pläne für einen Cyber Resilience Act. Breton forderte, dass Europa ein „leader in cybersecurity, through a genuine European Cyber Defence Policy, in order to protect, detect, defend and deter“ werden müsse. Die EU müsse ihre digitalen Ambitionen erweitern. Es gelte zunächst, die eigene Widerstandsfähigkeit zu stärken. Dies erfordere eine europäische „Technologiesouveränität“ und „strategische Autonomie“. Die EU und europäische Unternehmen müssten im Zeitraum bis 2027 rund 4,5 Milliarden € investieren, um dies zu erreichen. Das in Bukarest neu etablierte „European Cybersecurity Competence Centre“ (EC³) müsse eine aktive Rolle spielen. Neu geschaffen werden soll ein „Observatory of Critical Technologies.“ Notwendig sei auch eine Weiterentwicklung der rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen wie sie im renovierten Entwurf der „Network Security Directive“ (NIS 2) vorgesehen ist. Europa brauche einheitliche Cybersicherheitsstandards. Das gelte insbesondere für vernetzte Objekte. Mit Hilfe des vorgeschlagenen „Cyber Resilience Act“ sollen Duplikationen vermieden und Synergien gefördert werden. Verbessert werden müsse auch die Erkennung und Aufklärung von Cyberangriffen. Heute dauere es im Schnitt 190 Tage bis eine “sophisticated attack“ erkannt wird. Diese Zeitspanne müsse man drastisch reduzieren. Angriffe müssten in wenige Stunden erkannt, gestoppt und beantwortet werden. Ein „European Network of Security Operation Centres (SOCs), das KI-Technologie nutzt, soll hier Abhilfe schaffen. „A true "cyber border guard" of our European information space, this network of SOCs must be able to integrate information from national or, in the long term, European military SOCs (financed, for example, by the European Defence Fund)“. Gestärkt werden müssten auch die europäischen Verteidigungskapazitäten. Dazu gäbe es die im Juni 2021 gegründete „Joint Cyber Unit“. Noch würden viele betroffene „Player“ in Silos arbeiten und bei Angriffen nicht ausreichend miteinander kommunizieren. „To become a global player in the cyber field, Europe needs to develop a real doctrine on cyber attacks as well as operational and offensive cyber defence capabilities.“ Dazu gehöre die Entwicklung von forensischen Kapazitäten, um Angriffe besser zuordnen zu können sowie eine aktive Cyberdiplomatie im globalen Rahmen. „Faced with cyber threats, the European Union cannot compromise and must do everything possible to increase our resilience, together with its Member States. To preserve our industry, our public services, our infrastructures, our security and defence. That is also what European technological sovereignty is all about.“[3]

Weg in die digitale Dekade bis 2030, 15. September 2021

Am 15. September 2021 präzisierte die EU-Kommission ihre Vorschläge, wie bis zum Jahr 2030 die im so genannten „Digitalen Kompass“ enthaltenen Zielvorstellungen umgesetzt werden sollen. Digitale Fortschritte seien in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten in den letzten Jahren sehr unausgeglichen. Mit dem neuen vorgeschlagenen Programm für die „digitale Dekade“ wird eine Governance-Struktur mit jährlichen Überprüfungen eingeführt, die die digitale Entwicklung in allen EU-Staaten beschleunigen soll. Damit Europa die Ziele für die digitale Dekade rasch erreicht, sieht der vorgeschlagene Governance-Rahmen ein System zur Überwachung der Fortschritte vor, das auf einem verbesserten Index für die digitale Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (DESI) beruht. Die Kommission würde zunächst mit den Mitgliedstaaten gemeinsame EU-Zielpfade für jedes Ziel abstecken. Die Mitgliedsstaaten würden dann ihrerseits nationale strategische Fahrpläne zur Erreichung dieser Ziele vorschlagen. Die Kommission wird dem Europäischen Parlament und dem Rat der Europäischen Union jedes Jahr einen Bericht über den „Stand der digitalen Dekade“ vorlegen. Die Kommission wird bis 2026 die Ziele überprüfen, um eine Bestandsaufnahme der technischen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen zu machen[4]. Der Beschluss definiert in Artikel 2 acht Ziele[5]. Zur Erreichung der acht Ziele wird in Artikel 9 des Vorschlags ausdrücklich auf das Multistakeholder-Prinzip Bezug genommen[6].

Mehr zum Thema
Q3/2021EU
  1. [1] 2021 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen, 15. September 2021: „For our recovery, the Single Market is the driver of good jobs and competitiveness. That is particularly important in the digital single market. We have made ambitious proposals in the last year. To contain the gatekeeper power of major platforms; To underpin the democratic responsibility of those platforms; To foster innovation; To channel the power of artificial intelligence. Digital is the make-or-break issue. And Member States share that view. Digital spending in NextGenerationEU will even overshoot the 20% target. That reflects the importance of investing in our European tech sovereignty. We have to double down to shape our digital transformation according to our own rules and values. Allow me to focus on semi-conductors, those tiny chips that make everything work: from smartphones and electric scooters to trains or entire smart factories. There is no digital without chips. And while we speak, whole production lines are already working at reduced speed - despite growing demand - because of a shortage of semi-conductors. But while global demand has exploded, Europe's share across the entire value chain, from design to manufacturing capacity has shrunk. We depend on state-of-the-art chips manufactured in Asia. So this is not just a matter of our competitiveness. This is also a matter of tech sovereignty. So let's put all of our focus on it. We will present a new European Chips Act. We need to link together our world-class research, design and testing capacities. We need to coordinate EU and national investment along the value chain. The aim is to jointly create a state-of-the-art European chip ecosystem, including production. That ensures our security of supply and will develop new markets for ground-breaking European tech. Yes, this is a daunting task. And I know that some claim it cannot be done. But they said the same thing about Galileo 20 years ago. And look what happened. We got our act together. Today European satellites provide the navigation system for more than 2 billion smartphones worldwide. We are world leaders. So let's be bold again, this time with semi-conductors.“ In: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ov/SPEECH_21_4701
  2. [2] This is why we are working with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on a new EU-NATO Joint Declaration to be presented before the end of the year…. Secondly, the nature of the threats we face is evolving rapidly: from hybrid or cyber-attacks to the growing arms race in space. Disruptive technology has been a great equaliser in the way power can be used today by rogue states or non-state groups. You no longer need armies and missiles to cause mass damage. You can paralyse industrial plants, city administrations and hospitals – all you need is your laptop. You can disrupt entire elections with a smartphone and an internet connection. … Allow me to give you three concrete examples: First, we need to build the foundation for collective decision-making – this is what I call situational awareness. We fall short if Member States active in the same region, do not share their information on the European level. It is vital that we improve intelligence cooperation. But this is not just about intelligence in the narrow sense. It is about bringing together the knowledge from all services and all sources. From space to police trainers, from open source to development agencies. Their work gives us a unique scope and depth of knowledge. It is out there! But we can only use that, to make informed decisions if we have the full picture. And this is currently not the case. We have the knowledge, but it is disjoined. Information is fragmented. This is why the EU could consider its own Joint Situational Awareness Centre to fuse all the different pieces of information. And to be better prepared, to be fully informed and to be able to decide. Secondly, we need to improve interoperability. This is why we are already investing in common European platforms, from fighter jets, to drones and cyber. But we have to keep thinking of new ways to use all possible synergies. One example could be to consider waiving VAT when buying defence equipment developed and produced in Europe. This would not only increase our interoperability, but also decrease our dependencies of today. Third, we cannot talk about defence without talking about cyber. If everything is connected, everything can be hacked. Given that resources are scarce, we have to bundle our forces. And we should not just be satisfied to address the cyber threat, but also strive to become a leader in cyber security. It should be here in Europe where cyber defence tools are developed. This is why we need a European Cyber Defence Policy, including legislation on common standards under a new European Cyber Resilience Act.“ In: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ov/SPEECH_21_4701
  3. [3] Thierry Breton, How a European Cyber Resilience Act will help protect Europe, 16. September 2021: „Europe must become a leader in cybersecurity, through a genuine European Cyber Defence Policy, in order to protect, detect, defend and deter. This new policy will of course build on what has already been put on the table, both in terms of regulation and technology. It will be a matter of taking our ambition a step further….. This will be the purpose of the European Cyber Resilience Act announced by the President. I believe that this Act should also have a defence dimension in order to maximise synergies, enabling, for example, defence requirements to be taken into account. … The aim must be to gradually develop a genuine operational cyber pillar as an integral part of our ambition for a common European defence. Yes, it is a complicated and delicate subject because it touches the heart of our Member States’ national sovereignty, but now is the time to address it. I believe that this will be one of the important elements of the Strategic Compass carried by the High Representative Josep Borrell. Faced with cyber threats, the European Union cannot compromise and must do everything possible to increase our resilience, together with its Member States. To preserve our industry, our public services, our infrastructures, our security and defence. That is also what European technological sovereignty is all about.“ In: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-european-cyber-resilience-act-help-protect-europe-thierry-breton/
  4. [4] State of the Union: Commission proposes a Path to the Digital Decade to deliver the EU's digital transformation by 2030, in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_4630
  5. [5] Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing the 2030 Policy Programme „ Path to the Digital Decade”, Brüssel, 15. September 2021: „Article 2 : General objectives: The Union institutions and the Member States shall cooperate to support and achieve the following general objectives: (a) promote a human-centered, inclusive, secure and open digital environment where digital technologies and services respect and enhance Union principles and values; (b) reinforce Member States’ collective resilience and bridge the digital divide notably by promoting basic and specialised digital skills for all and fostering the development of high-performing digital education and training systems; (c) ensure digital sovereignty notably by a secure and accessible digital infrastructure capable to process vast volumes of data that enables other technological developments, supporting the competitiveness of the Union's industry; (d) promote the deployment and the use of digital capabilities giving access to digital technologies and data on easy and fair terms in order to achieve a high level of digital intensity and innovation in Union’s enterprises, in particular small and medium ones; (e) ensure that democratic life, public services and health and care services are accessible online for everyone, in particular disadvantaged groups including persons with disabilities, offering inclusive, efficient and personalised services and tools with high security and privacy standards; (f) ensure that digital infrastructures and technologies become more sustainable and energy- and resource efficient, and contribute to a sustainable circular and climate-neutral economy and society in line with the European Green Deal; (g) facilitate convergent conditions for investments in digital transformation throughout the Union, including by strengthening the synergies between the use of Union and national funds, and developing predictable regulatory approaches; (h) ensure that all policies and programmes which are relevant to the achievement of the digital targets, are taken into account in a coordinated and coherent way to fully contribute to the digital transition.“ In: file:///C:/Users/WOLFGA~1/AppData/Local/Temp/COM_2021_574_final_act_EN_v8_ptPK7Tb1DRDE7515KeapWlChi8_79300.pdf
  6. [6] Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing the 2030 Policy Programme “Path to the Digital Decade, Brüssel, 15. September 2021: „Article 11: Stakeholder consultations: (1) The Commission shall closely cooperate with private and public stakeholders, including social partners, to collect information and develop recommended policies, measures and actions for the purposes of the implementation of this Decision. (2) The Member States shall cooperate with private and public stakeholders, including social partners, in line with the national legislation, when adopting their national Digital Decade strategic roadmaps and their adjustments.“ In: file:///C:/Users/WOLFGA~1/AppData/Local/Temp/COM_2021_574_final_act_EN_v8_ptPK7Tb1DRDE7515KeapWlChi8_79300.pdf