Draft Progress Reoprt Concerning Proposed Directive on Measures to Ensure Network and Information Security

 On 16 May 2014 the Council of the EU has published its Draft Progress Report about a "Proposal for a Directive concerning measures to ensure a high common level of network and information security across the Union" (NIS Directive). The Draft Progress Report sets out the work done so far in the Council's preparatory bodies, gives an account of the state of play in the examination of the above mentioned proposal and sets out orientations with a view to the preparation of negotiations with the EP in due course.

The Draft Progress Report concludes that, without exception, all Member States are well aware of the urgent need to improve network and information security and to take action in this regard at EU level.

The Hellenistic Presidency comes to believe that the proposed orientations and conclusions in the Draft Progress Report should be a sufficient basis for developing the proposal further under the incoming Italian Presidency. These orientations and conclusions have been put together bearing in mind the need to strike the right balance between improving cyber-security, building the necessary trust and, for the sake of efficiency, making full use of existing experience as well as avoiding duplication of the expertise of existing bodies and mechanisms.

Member States seem to agree on the need to strengthen strategic/policy cooperation on NIS at EU level. A number of Member States believe that the Directive should provide for more specific criteria and requirements for operational cooperation in case of NIS incidents. Most Member States, however, appear to see strategic/policy cooperation as a first priority for building the necessary trust while, at the same time, modalities for operational cooperation could be further worked out in the context of existing mechanisms and bodies. The Hellenistic Presidency holds the view that strategic/policy cooperation and operational cooperation as mutually exclusive options but believes that the priority in the Directive should be on strategic/policy cooperation while at the same time giving guidance to existing bodies and mechanisms with regard to operational cooperation.

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Council of the EU, Draft Progress Report about "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning measures to ensure a high common level of network and information security across the Union", 2013/0027 (COD), 16 May 2014