Cybersecurity Policy of the European Union: Towards Strategic Autonomy

Abstract

Although cybersecurity as an unified domain is still a recent fi eld of common policy for the EU, it is widely perceived as an area of growing importance for the global position and security of the Union. This development of EU’s cybersecurity policy is taking place in the context of the broader efforts, namely Europe’s ambition to increase its strategic autonomy. For the EU the main challenge remains how to achieve the coherent and holistic approach to cybersecurity, encompassing it’s all dimensions – network and information security, cybercrime and cyber defence. New initiatives undertaken recently by Brussels try to address this problem. This article’s aim is to contribute to the better understanding of the potential of the EU’s cybersecurity policy to frame the future of European security and defence. The article describes the process of development of the cybersecurity policy of the EU in the XXI century. It provides a brief overview of the instruments and institutions of this policy. Then, the article discusses the EU’s potential in cybersecurity field. The final part deals with the three dimensions of EU’s strategic autonomy – political, operational and industrial and how they relate to cybersecurity.