EU calls for critical cable security upgrade

“No realm of life is free from threats or hostile behaviour today,” said Kaja Kallas, high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy with the European Commission and also EC vice president.

“Recent attacks against underwater cables underline this clearly. This is vital infrastructure that keeps us connected online and our energy flowing, not just between EU member states but between Europe and many other regions across the world.

“Today we are taking steps to protect cables, detect and anticipate threats more quickly, and repair damage as fast as possible. We should mobilise all our strengths, military and civil capacities to ensure surveillance and attribute attacks quicker, sanctioning those responsible of sabotage. Would-be perpetrators must also be deterred. This is what we propose today.” 

Measures to bolster prevention, detection, deterrence and response activities in subsea cabling infrastructure will be paramount, said executive vice-president Henna Virkkunen, presenting a Joint Communication in Finland this week.

The presentation was made in the wake of several subsea cable incidents, which have risked causing severe disruptions to essential functions for EU citizens, said Virkkunen, who is the Finnish Commissioner responsible for tech sovereignty, security and democracy in the EC.

“This initiative responds directly to these threats,” she said.

“In response to growing geopolitical tensions, particularly in regions such as the Baltic Sea, the European Commission is taking decisive action to safeguard our critical submarine cable infrastructure. We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and detect sabotage to cables but also to actively deter, repair and respond to any threat to critical infrastructure that is key to our economy and collective security.”

The measures fall under four headings:

Prevention: Bolstering security requirements and risk assessments, prioritising new deployments
Detection: Enabling earlier alerts and working on ‘more effective responses’
Response and recovery: Improving the efficiency of an EU crisis framework for action in response to incidents
Deterrence: Enforcing sanctions against hostile actors and improving ‘cable diplomacy’.

Specific actions, the EC says, will be rolled out by the end of the year, including mapping out existing and planned cables.

”The fact that we are looking at potential cases of sabotage on EU infrastructure shows the seriousness of the threats the EU is facing,” said commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner. “The Commission and EU agencies are working closely with Member States to help them anticipate and prepare for such threats.”