Sant: F’dak marbut ma’ proposti tas-sigurtà ċibernetika għandna nżommu lura milli nżidu ma’ inizjattivi oħra ta’ bini ta’ reżiljenza

L-eks Prim Ministru Alfred Sant esprima l-appoġġ tiegħu għal rapport dwar il-proposta għal direttiva tal-Parlament Ewropew u tal-Kunsill li tfittex li tippromwovi r-reżiljenza ta’ entitajiet kritiċi fuq bażi Ewropea.

Fl-intervent tiegħu fil-plenarja tal-Parlament Ewropew, huwa innota li fil-perjodu ta’ instabilità u insigurtà li ilna nesperjenzaw  żmien twil, l-infrastrutturi kritiċi Ewropej huma esposti għall-possibbiltà ta’ numru dejjem akbar ta’ attakki u diżastri naturali. Dawn jinkludu attakki ċibernetiċi, li qed isiru aktar kumplessi. Għal din ir-raġuni, entitajiet kritiċi li joperaw servizzi li huma essenzjali għas-suq intern se jadottaw proċeduri komuni u armonizzati għall-identifikazzjoni u l-protezzjoni mit-theddid, innota Sant.

Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea ppreżentat proposta għal direttiva dwar ir-reżiljenza ta’ entitajiet kritiċi (id-“Direttiva CER”) f’Diċembru 2020. Għan wieħed huwa li jitnaqqsu l-vulnerabbiltajiet tal-entitajiet kritiċi li huma essenzjali għall-funzjonament tal-ekonomija. Entitajiet kritiċi huma entitajiet li jipprovdu servizzi vitali li fuqhom jiddependu l-għajxien taċ-ċittadini Ewropej u t-tħaddim tajjeb tas-suq intern. Entità kritika titqies ta’ sinifikanti għall-Ewropa jekk din tipprovdi servizz essenzjali lil sitt Stati Membri jew aktar.

Filwaqt li laqa’ l-estensjoni tal-kamp ta’ applikazzjoni tat-test għal setturi bħall-infrastrutturi diġitali, tal-ilma, tal-ikel u tas-saħħa, Sant irrefera għar-regolament DORA li fih kien involut ħafna. DORA tistabbilixxi miżuri ġodda għar-reżiljenza operattiva diġitali fis-servizzi finanzjarji sabiex tissaħħaħ l-integrità tas-suq tal-Unjoni.

Madanakollu, Sant saħaq li għandha tingħata attenzjoni biex ma jiżdiedux wisq piżijiet fuq in-negozji ż-żgħar u biex tiġi evitata d-duplikazzjoni ma’ inizjattivi oħra ta’ bini ta’ reżiljenza. B’dan il-mod, l-atturi kritiċi ma jiġux iffaċċjati b’tagħbija amministrattiva bla bżonn.

Ir-rapport ġie adottat b’595 vot favur, 17 kontra u 24 astensjoni. 

Sant: In cybersecurity proposals, we should refrain from adding with other resilience-building initiatives

During his intervention to the plenary of the European Parliament, he noted that in the permanent crisis that we have been experiencing, European critical infrastructures are exposed to the possibility of an increasing number of attacks and natural disasters. These include cyber-attacks, which are becoming more complex. For this reason, critical entities that operate services that are essential to the internal market will adopt common and harmonized procedures for identification and protection from threats, Sant noted.

The European Commission presented a proposal for a directive on the resilience of critical entities (the “CER Directive”) in December 2020. One objective is to reduce the vulnerabilities of the critical entities that are essential for the functioning of the economy. Critical entities are entities providing vital services on which the livelihoods of European citizens and the proper functioning of the internal market depend. A critical entity is considered of particular European significance if it provides an essential service to six or more member states.

While welcoming the extension of the scope of the text to sectors like digital,water, food and health infrastructures, Sant referred to the DORA regulation in which he had been deeply involved. DORA lays down new measures for digital operational resilience in financial services in order to strenghten the integrity of the Union’s market.

However, Sant emphasized that care should be taken not to add too many burdens on small businesses and to avoid duplication with other resilience-building initiatives. In this way, critical actors are not faced with an unnecesssary adminitrative load. 

The report was adopted with 595 votes in favour, 17 against and 24 abstentions.