DIGITALEUROPE welcomes the adoption of IMCO's opinion on the Cybersecurity Act as a step in the right direction

DIGITALEUROPE welcomes the adoption of the opinion on the Cybersecurity Act today by the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO). The IMCO report is a step in the right direction towards the creation of a European cyber certification system but DIGITALEUROPE calls upon MEPs to keep the voluntary approach to certification in the upcoming ITRE Committee report.

“The digital industry has a long experience of dealing with cyber-attacks and has the most proven know-how in finding solutions and in designing products and services that protect both their devices and users”, said Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, Director-General of DIGITALEUROPE.

“The industry cybersecurity expertise and knowledge of market requirements should be embedded at each step of the preparation of candidate schemes, from prioritisation to design and implementation,” she added. “We welcome the introduction of self-declaration of conformity, a recognised and tested approach used by manufacturers, as well as the reference to global standards”, she concluded.

DIGITALEUROPE supports the introduction of a requirement for the European cybersecurity certification scheme to identify existing international Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs). However, this may not be sufficient for the EU schemes to be fully compatible with international MRAs.

The inclusion of cyber-hygiene and security by design principles, and processes in the scope of the Regulation would also help to increase the level of cybersecurity in the EU.