Cybersecurity : Collaboration Is Europe’s Best Response

Cyber threats take many forms, from industrial espionage to state-sponsored attacks aimed at spreading misinformation and undermining democratic institutions. While attacks on public administrations remain the most common, followed by transport, digital infrastructure and finance, ideology and increasingly multi-layered threats appear to be a growing common denominator. Europe has responded with a strong regulatory framework, but no state is an island when it comes to security. As cyber threats are inherently cross-border and fast-moving, effective resilience can only rely on structured cooperation.

To explore how this collaboration does and should work in practice, the Lisbon Council convened the High-Level Lunch on ‘Resilience by Design: Why Cooperation is Europe’s Cybersecurity Imperative and How to Strengthen Operational and Human Networks,’ focusing on how to translate national innovations into collective European capability and how to close the critical cybersecurity skills gap through inclusive workforce strategies.

Phedra Clouner, deputy director general, Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB), opened the discussion, sharing Belgium’s unique position with both European and national-level cybersecurity responsibilities. She was joined by Katrin Aasmann, counsellor for cyber affairs, Permanent Representation of Estonia to the European Union; Katarzyna Prusak-Górniak, head of digital affairs unit, Permanent Representation of Poland to the European Union; and Kia Slæbæk Jensen, cyber attaché, Permanent Representation of Denmark to the European Union, who highlighted experiences from Estonia, Denmark and Poland. Other high-level participants included Georges Ataya, professor and academic director, Solvay Brussels School; Ann Mennens, CyberAware programme manager, Directorate General for Digital Services, European Commission; Cosimo Monda, director, European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity (ECPC), Maastricht University; Nina Olesen, chief growth officer, European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) and deputy secretary general, Women4Cyber; and Giuseppe Zuffanti, coordinator for cyber issue, European Security and Defence College (ESDC).

The roundtable was convened within the framework of the COcyber project, a two-year European initiative aimed at strengthening collaboration and coordination between the civilian and defence cybersecurity sectors.