Dear Colleague,

The European Commission is glad to publish the second Critical Infrastructure Resilience newsletter of 2023 and inform you of news, activities and events carried out across EU and beyond on critical entities and the infrastructure they rely on.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine continues to also dominate the critical infrastructure policy agenda.

International cooperation with key partners is one of the most important assets we have in that regard. Therefore, President von der Leyen had announced together with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg in January the EU-NATO Task Force on the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure, which was launched on 16 March 2023. It will further promote reciprocal awareness of respective work, the sharing of best practices, and will identify synergies and further areas for cooperation. The Task Force focuses on the energy, digital infrastructure, transport and space sectors and will deliver a first report in July. It will further promote reciprocal awareness of respective work, the sharing of best practices, and will identify synergies and further areas for cooperation.

Following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, the Council adopted a Recommendation on a Union-wide coordinated approach to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure on 8 December 2022. One key priority to enhance preparedness is the conduct of stress tests of entities operating critical infrastructure based on common principles at EU level, starting with the energy sector. A recent stick taking at the level of the Council working party and several technical follow-up discussions have shown that the stress tests are progressing well and it is very likely they will be completed until the end of the year. This further shows the ability of Member States and Commission services to cooperate and react quickly.

In the same light, the Recommendation included an invitation of the Council for the Commission to make a proposal for a Blueprint for a coordinated response to disruptions of critical infrastructure with significant cross-border relevance. The Blueprint will set out objectives, processes and tools to be used in case of incidents that disrupt critical infrastructure and the provision of essential services with significant cross-border relevance. It will facilitate cooperation between the EU Member States, EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies particularly on response.

There are many recent developments that concern the holistic cross-sectoral and cross-border resilience of critical infrastructure and the supply chains they rely on. This edition of the newsletter features projects, reports, and key conferences both at EU and international level.

The newsletter is a joint effort of the European Commission's Directorate-General Migration and Home Affairs (HOME) and Joint Research Centre (JRC).

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

If you work or are interested in the area of critical infrastructure resilience, get in touch and share any interesting information by emailing us.

Happy reading,

The Editorial Team