- Posted 23-Nov-2020
More than €50 million requested for projects improving the EU’s cybersecurity capabilities and cooperation
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) cybersecurity call funds projects that aim to increase the cooperation and the capabilities of actors fundamental for the EU Cybersecurity Strategy in a variety of domains: from coordinated response to cybersecurity incidents and cybersecurity certification to capacity building and public-private sector and institutional cooperation.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) cybersecurity call closed on 5 November with 82 proposals submitted, requesting co-funding of more than €50 million. The funding available for the call is €10.5 million.
The call facilitates the implementation of the EU cybersecurity strategy, and in particular of the following pieces of legislation:
- Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS Directive (EU) 2016/1148)
- EU Cybersecurity Act (Regulation (EU) 2019/881)
- Commission Recommendation on Coordinated Response to Large Scale Cybersecurity Incidents and Crises (Cyber Blueprint (EU) 2017/1584) and the Commission proposal for a Joint Cyber Unit.
In the line with the call text, a number of submitted proposals are expected to facilitate the creation of a coherent ecosystem for risk management, information sharing and reporting in Member States, by improving the capabilities of Operators of Essential Services (OESs) and public-private cooperation, for example through Information Sharing and Analysis Centres (ISACs).
The set of proposals addressing cybersecurity certification under the related call objective are expected to help stakeholders, such as certification authorities and national accreditation and conformity assessment bodies, to build up internal capabilities to effectively implement the Cybersecurity Act. The latter entered into force last year and provides an EU-wide cybersecurity certification framework for digital products, services and processes.
Last but not least, it is expected that some of the other proposals submitted address joint preparedness, shared situational awareness about cyber threats, as well as coordinated response to cybersecurity incidents.
There has been great interest in this Cybersecurity call for proposals, with applicants coming from almost all Member States. The call is the last Connecting Europe cybersecurity call and paves the way to the Digital Europe Programme, the EU funding programme that will build the strategic digital capacities of the EU and facilitate the wide deployment of digital technologies in the next seven years.
When will the grants be awarded?
The evaluation of the proposals will take place from November until January. The results of the evaluation and the decision on the allocation of grants should be announced as of April 2021.
Source: Digital Single Market News (https://bit.ly/2Hsv0IJ)