Europe should take action to build or upgrade its submarine cable infrastructure, according to a European Commission proposal. If necessary, government assistance should be sought for this project.
The recommendations follow concerns about vulnerabilities that emerged from the damage to two telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea last year. A gas pipeline connecting Estonia to Finland and several telecommunications cables were damaged when the ship dragged anchor along the seabed.
Undersea cable infrastructures, which form the main backbone of the Internet, carrying more than 97% of the world's data traffic, have become a hot topic of discussion amid escalating geopolitical conflicts. These concerns have prompted the EU executive to develop a roadmap, including measures to protect and secure the bloc's submarine cables.
CPEI (Cable Projects of European Interest) refer to projects that are jointly financed by the private sector and governments on easier terms. The document states that funding may come from EU programmes, the European Investment Bank, National Assistance Banks, other public financial and development institutions, private sector financial institutions and private sector investors, as well as equity funds.
The paper proposes a group of experts to help the Commission list strategic CPEIs, facilitate information exchange between EU countries and assess the risks, vulnerabilities and dependencies of submarine cable infrastructure, and propose mitigation measures.
“This Recommendation invites Member States to take measures to ensure that operators of submarine cable infrastructure meet the highest safety standards (including defense level standards where appropriate),” says the document.
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