EU prepares a massive critical infrastructure campaign
All twenty-seven capitals will cooperate in listing Europe’s most valuable sites; energy and communications seen as vital, considering the continent’s growing interdependance; industry will lend a hand, but rules in place ensure that they implement best practices regardless
Those looking for business opportunities in in Europe have two choices: either export brie or import homeland security solutions. We know nothing about the cheese business, but we can say with confidence that the latter is a lucrative area that promises even bigger opportunities in the future. Just this week, for instance, the European Union announced that it would join with its twenty-seven national capitals to define and rank Europe’s most critical infrastructure with a view towards allocating security euros and developing coordinated strategies across the bloc.
The effort will take several years to complete, with the end result being classified lists of energy, transport, communications, and other sites and functions of grave importance.The lists will then be shared with industry represenatives and government officials up and down the European and national structures, which will offer suggestions and contribute to an ongoing updating process. Getting industry support will be critical because the EU also plans to impose strict security regimes on the infrastructure selected (a glaring difference with American policy, which too often is managed by industry rather than just taken on as an equal partner.) According to Franco Frattini, EU justice and home affairs commissioner, officials hope any disputes will “remain as brief, infrequent, manageable, geographically isolated and minimally detrimental as possible.”
-read more in Brooks Tigner’s DefenseNews report
