EU Commission: new European security strategy. Cybercrime and dark web collaboration platform also envisaged

A European Security Strategy was announced today by the European Commission: measures in this respect were not lacking, but now the Commission has mapped out “a common home", an "ecosystem" that encompasses all European areas of responsibility to ensure a safe environment for European citizens, “overcoming the false dichotomy between online and offline.” “We will under no circumstances sacrifice European values and Rule of Law on the altar of security”, said Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who presented the major building blocks of the Strategy. These are: to ensure a “future-proof security environment”, i.e. to develop new EU rules on the protection and resilience of critical interconnected infrastructure; to protect public spaces by stepping up, inter alia, public-private cooperation; to strengthen cybersecurity with new European legislation and the creation of a “Joint Cyber Unit”: a cooperation platform on cybercrime and dark web, to respond to rapidly evolving threats an inherent revenue. Countering online threats (illegal content, cybercrime and hybrid threats) represents a related sphere of action, notably by strengthening legislation and coordination at EU level. The fight against organized crime and terrorism is a third major building block, with initiatives aimed at combating the “root causes” of terrorism (social divisions, discrimination, radicalization) with effective prosecution of terrorists (better use of existing data bases, cooperation with non-EU Countries and international organizations). With regard to organized crime, today the Commission adopted the first initiatives to combat child sexual abuse and the trafficking of drugs and firearms. The final pillar of the strategy focuses on fostering cooperation at European level in the area of exchange of information, innovation and strengthening external border security.
Sarah Numico