Resoconto integrale delle discussioni

Martedì 22 novembre 2022 - Strasburgo

2. Resilienza dei soggetti critici (discussione)

  Πρόεδρος. – Το επόμενο σημείο στην ημερήσια διάταξη είναι η συζήτηση επί της έκθεσης του Michal Šimečka, εξ ονόματος της Επιτροπής Πολιτικών Ελευθεριών, Δικαιοσύνης και Εσωτερικών Υποθέσεων, επί της προτάσεως οδηγίας του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου και του Συμβουλίου για την ανθεκτικότητα των κρίσιμων οντοτήτων (COM(2020)0829 - C9-0421/2020 - 2020/0365(COD)) (A9-0289/2021).

  Michal Šimečka, rapporteur. – Mr President, colleagues, Madam Commissioner, it is quite an honour for me to stand here and present to you the result of almost two years of legislative work, which was grounded in extensive debates and consultations with stakeholders, the Member States and the European institutions. The initial promise was to deliver on a Europe that protects, which in practice also means strengthening the resilience of the critical systems underpinning our way of life in our internal market. And today, with the CER Directive, the EU is in a position to deliver on that promise.

Before we vote, let me just give a brief overview of what has transpired in Europe while we have been working on this file, which also provides the strongest arguments for why the European Union needs a new piece of legislation to better protect its critical entities.

Right before the Commission rolled out its draft, the COVID pandemic broke out, infecting and killing millions of Europeans and disrupting our healthcare, our economy and our societies. Later, while we were negotiating this law, or this directive, Russia launched its brutal attack, its brutal aggression against Ukraine. And since then, the European Union has been facing an unprecedented increase in sabotage operations on its critical infrastructure – from the energy sector to transport services – and experiencing an increasing number of hybrid attacks on its public institutions.

And in the meantime, the climate crisis has been burning and flooding our continent from Greece to Portugal, Sweden to Italy. And all of these crises, all of these events have also served as a sort of compass for the co-legislators as they were finetuning this directive.

Now more than ever, we must prove to our citizens that the European Union protects their lives, protects their jobs, their companies, the essential services that affect the daily lives of our citizens and, eventually, the entire European Union. Therefore, our ambition with this directive is to strengthen the ability of critical entities to cope with these risks to their operations, while improving the functioning of the internal market in these essential services.

There are 11 crucial sectors covered, and this directive addresses the various measures and requirements so that its implementation will adequately respond to both natural catastrophes and man-made attacks. I trust that our joint compass throughout this process has brought solid rules and established the cooperation, coordination and information flows among the Member States, the entities and the European Commission that will strengthen preparedness for these incidents, the response to these incidents and, eventually, their evaluations. Because resilience is not just about preventing a risk – a disaster can always occur; the crucial thing is how we cope with it and how we, as the European Union, bounce back from it.

Moreover, this is reflected in the legislation. There are entities which have a pan-European dimension because they operate simultaneously in several Member States, and a risk to their operations is therefore a risk for the single market as a whole. And this directive puts a special focus on these entities and on the cross-border cooperation of these entities, which are of particular European significance.

Finally, I would like to say that I’m delighted – and this is thanks to you, Madam Commissioner, and thanks to my colleagues, our shadow rapporteurs, our advisers in the European Parliament and our counterparts in the Council – that our mutual work has resulted in what I believe is the best possible legislation. It is a big step for the European Union, and I really hope that this Parliament will broadly support it by adopting our interinstitutional agreement later today.

  Nils Torvalds, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. – Mr President, Commissioner Johansson, resilience of critical entities could be slightly changed as a headline to ‘resilience of critical entities and slightly naive and sometimes stupid minds’. Why? After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Member States thought that we are living in a problem-free world.

I think the home country of Commissioner Johansson actually abandoned obligatory military service after 1990, thinking that we don’t ever need military operations in Europe. And then, all of a sudden on 24 February, we woke up to a new reality – a very bitter reality, actually, where we are going to need all the things we actually discussed during all the discussions around the critical entities file.

Many Member States thought the need for a comprehensive directive on critical entities was useless, so they didn’t even implement the old directive on European critical infrastructure. Fourteen years after this directive, we finally managed to agree on a directive that could actually highlight the importance of keeping our critical entities safe.

We don’t know how much we actually lost during these 14 years. But what we are losing now because of the lack of an appropriate way for addressing critical entities, we are losing lives, and that’s the real issue for the day. But I hope that we are going into a better future with this directive.

  Alex Agius Saliba, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. – Mr President, Commissioner, we all depend on essential services such as energy, transport, water, digital infrastructure, health, production and also food distribution. During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries had to work together to protect the health of the population while avoiding disruptions to the free movement of people and the delivery of goods and essential services throughout the European Union.

The recent sabotage against Nord Stream pipelines is another example of our energy infrastructures’ vulnerability. Pipelines and underwater cables are essential infrastructure that connect European citizens and companies throughout the world.

In an increasingly interdependent world, it is in the interests of all Europeans to protect those services and infrastructures that play an indispensable role in maintaining vital societal functions, our economic activities and the very internal market.

As the rapporteur for the IMCO opinion, I support the agreement and believe that the new rules come just at the right moment to strengthen and prepare the resilience of the European Union as a whole. We don’t always have to wait till something negative happens and, instead, be prepared and resilient for sudden disruptions and crises, situations, be it pandemic, be it wars, or even natural disasters. Thanks a lot and, also, well done again to the rapporteur.

  Ylva Johansson, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, in a few hours, we will celebrate 70 years of the European Parliament. From very humble beginnings has grown this great House of European Democracy. And as Members of this House, this is for you a moment of great pride and solemn reflection, as it is for me a great honour to speak here today and every other day.

Today, as we speak about the resilience of our critical infrastructure, I think about the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Last Tuesday, Russia launched 100 missiles, leaving 50 % of Kyiv, 80 % of Lviv, and 90 % of Ternopil without electricity. The goal? Let me quote Andrey Gurulyov – a Russian state Duma representative. This is what he said, ‘One week after all electricity is cut off, the city of Kyiv will be swimming in shit. There will be a clear threat of an epidemic’. The words of a Russian lawmaker, not mine. How calculating, how callous, how cold-hearted can you be to call on national TV to freeze, starve and terrorize civilians into submission? Showing us the will to destroy critical infrastructure; a blatant disregard for human life of a regime that’s hostile to the European Union. Just think: there is a map somewhere in Moscow pinpointing hospitals, power plants and water supply as targets.

At the end of September in the shallow waters of the Baltic, at 80 metres deep, a series of explosions tore gaping holes in the Nord Stream pipelines, one of them 50 meters wide, causing on the surface a maelstrom of whirling water one kilometre wide. Up to 400 000 tonnes of methane escaped. An act of sabotage and it is not yet clarified who did it. But it happened just after Putin’s mobilisation, just when Russia was conducting fake referendums and just before Putin’s illegal annexations.

About two weeks later, unknown perpetrators paralysed rail traffic in North Germany, disrupting rail links to the Netherlands and Denmark by cutting fibre optic communication cables. The attackers are so far unknown, but the message is clear, ‘We know where you are weak. We know where to strike, any time we like’.

At the meeting of the G7 last week, I made clear the EU utterly condemned these acts of sabotage. We will not be intimidated. We will not tolerate these wanton attacks. We will defend ourselves. And we can do that, thanks to you. Thanks to the political agreements this Parliament reached with the Council this summer. First to strengthen our cybersecurity. Russian cyber-attacks against Ukraine already caused damage in the EU, disrupting the internet in Central Europe. The NIS2 Directive you approved with overwhelming majority will help us fight cyber threats that do real world harm. And today you will vote on the directive improving the resilience of our critical entities, greatly expanding the sectors we will protect. Beyond energy and transport today, also banking and finance and space, drinking water, wastewater, health, food and more. Sharing information on incidents much more quickly, while allowing Member States to protect sensitive information.

We need to do more. Last month, this Parliament called on Member States to protect critical infrastructure as a matter of priority. And here in this Parliament, President von der Leyen announced further steps. As a result, we proposed a Council recommendation. We are asking Member States to carry out stress tests. That’s our most urgent task right now, to make sure our critical infrastructure can resist any act of sabotage or attack. Starting with the energy sector – under such brutal attack now in Ukraine. And we call on Member States to start to implement the directive on critical entities already now. Adopt or update national strategies already now. Already now, start to identify entities critical to society and the economy.

I expect swift entry into force early next year, but it will take nearly two years to write this directive into national laws and we cannot afford to waste a single moment when rockets have already fallen on European soil. Let’s build up our preparedness already now. Now crank up our response – through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism – already now. And scale up our cooperation with NATO and other international partners already now.

Honourable members, we must never forget attacks on infrastructure or attacks on people. So, dear Michal, dear rapporteur Šimečka, dear shadows, thank you for helping to protect Europe and protect people. You completed your important work not a moment too soon. More attacks may come. Worse attacks may come. And when this House passes this legislation today, we will be better prepared to meet them.

  Lukas Mandl, Verfasser der Stellungnahme des mitberatenden Ausschusses für auswärtige Angelegenheiten. – Herr Präsident, Frau Kommissarin! Kritische Infrastruktur, das ist lebenswichtige Infrastruktur, und es ist wichtig, dass sich die Europäische Union in ihrer Gesamtheit darum kümmert, diese Infrastrukturen für den Krisenfall aufrechtzuerhalten. Ich danke dem Berichterstatter, ich danke den Schattenberichterstattern für die guten Verhandlungen.

Drei Dinge waren mir wichtig zu verankern in diesen Verhandlungen. Erstens: Wer für eine Einheit kritischer Infrastruktur verantwortlich ist, verdient öffentliche Wertschätzung. Wir müssen es in Europa möglich machen, klar zu kommunizieren, dass das etwas bedeutet – für die Sicherheit, für die Lebensqualität, für die Vorsorge, für mögliche Krisen.

Zweitens: Was für die Allgemeinheit gemacht wird, muss auch von der Allgemeinheit finanziert werden. Das bedeutet, dass wir nicht zusätzliche Lasten auferlegen wollen, wo jemand für Einheiten kritischer Infrastruktur Verantwortung übernimmt, sondern dass wir ermöglichen wollen, dass es funktioniert.

Und drittens: Die wohnortnahe Lebensmittelversorgung war mir wichtig. Die hybriden Angriffe, der Krieg Putin-Russlands haben gezeigt: Auch die Lebensmittelketten nach Europa und in andere Teile der Welt sind wichtig. Und mit all dem, mit dem Schutz kritischer Infrastruktur, begegnen wir dieser Welt der Konfrontation mit unserem Zugang der Kooperation, aber auch der Vorsorge für künftige Krisen.

  Ангел Джамбазки, докладчик по становището на комисията по транспорт и туризъм. – Г-н Председател, г-жо Комисар, приветствам предложението за директива относно устойчивостта на критичните обекти и се радвам, че се взема предвид и становището на комисията по транспорт и туризъм.

Транспортът е основен сектор, свързаността е важно нещо и, разбира се, критичната инфраструктура трябва да бъде подредена, оценена и пазена. Но когато се говори за тези неща, неизбежно се набива на очи едно противоречие и едно много силно разминаване. Тук ще се говори много по този доклад за свързаност, за това как трябва да се оценява инфраструктурата и т.н. И същевременно има държави членки, които продължават да блокират присъединяването на България и Румъния към Шенгенското пространство. За каква свързаност говорим, при положение че от Русе до Букурещ, между които има 70 километра разстояние, се пътува 12 часа, г-жо Комисар, как да стане тази работа?

Вижда се отново разминаването между думи и дела. Вече 11 години двете държави са изпълнили всички технически критерии, отговарят на изискванията, но не са част от Шенгенското пространство и това е абсолютно несправедливо към нашите граждани, към нашия транспорт, към нашата инфраструктура и към нашия бизнес.

Така че, когато говорите за тези неща, първо трябва да се видят и въпросите, свързани с присъединяването на България и на Румъния към Шенген, за да може да бъде това пространство завършено и за да може да бъде оценено и работено изцяло.

  Salvatore De Meo, a nome del gruppo PPE. – Signor Presidente, signora Commissaria, onorevoli colleghi, la vulnerabilità delle nostre infrastrutture strategiche è sotto gli occhi di tutti.

Infatti, negli ultimi anni abbiamo assistito all'incremento di attacchi ibridi dovuti sia ai cambiamenti climatici sia a minacce interne e al terrorismo, per non parlare della pandemia, per poi arrivare alla guerra che ha messo a repentaglio la sicurezza del nostro continente.

Oggi più che mai è essenziale difendere il corretto funzionamento delle nostre infrastrutture critiche, renderle più resilienti per poter garantire il loro corretto funzionamento a favore delle nostre economie e del mercato unico. I rischi sono chiari, è stato detto. Un'interruzione di una di queste infrastrutture critiche può potenzialmente generare effetti a catena non solo nello Stato in cui si trova, ma anche in tutti gli altri Stati.

Accolgo quindi con favore il rafforzamento delle norme che mirano ad aumentare la resilienza delle strutture e infrastrutture strategiche per i servizi e per lo svolgimento delle attività economiche essenziali ed esprimo soddisfazione per aver ottenuto un'estensione dei settori di applicazione di questa direttiva anche al settore agroalimentare. In particolare, mi riferisco ai grandi mercati all'ingrosso, che ovviamente vengono riconosciuti in questo provvedimento nel loro ruolo di infrastrutture strategiche.

Il funzionamento della catena agroalimentare è un servizio essenziale per il benessere della nostra società e i mercati all'ingrosso sono fondamentali, in quanto strutture di pubblico interesse, basti pensare che, grazie a loro, durante la pandemia è stato evitato in molti paesi il blocco del sistema agroalimentare e si è potuto garantire l'approvvigionamento e la distribuzione dei generi alimentari.

  Petar Vitanov, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Mr President, I would like, first of all, to thank the rapporteur, of course, and all the shadows for the excellent work that they have managed to provide, because I am absolutely positive that especially after 24 of February, nobody’s going to underestimate the importance of this file since we are witnessing how peace and democracy depend on the level of security and on the strength of our critical systems, transport, energy, water and so on and so forth.

Critical entities are the providers of essential services, and in this increasingly interdependent union they play an indispensable role in the maintenance of economic activities in the internal market. And I remember in the beginning of the negotiations that we were discussing the essence of the essential services. I’m glad that during this negotiations, this definition was finally precisely detailed, and it includes also the safeguarding of public health and safety, the environment, and not just the continuation of the economic functions.

I’m also glad that in these negotiations we were guaranteeing the additional financial support to those critical entities. Now every Member State should be required to adopt a national strategy to guarantee the resilience of critical industries, to carry out regular risk assessment and based on this assessment, to identify critical entities. Also entities that provide services to six or more Member States will be subject to specific oversight. So I think that a lot of improvements were made, and I am sure that with the adoption of this legislation, we will be absolutely better prepared to face any future challenges before the European Union.

  Bart Groothuis, on behalf of the Renew Group. – President, dear Commissioner, yet another piece of well-crafted, much needed and warmly welcomed legislation protecting Europe’s critical infrastructure is key in making Europe safe and prosperous. Thank you, dear rapporteur.

It’s just like the NIS 2, like you mentioned, dear Commissioner, and the foreign direct investment screening, the Democracy Action Plan, but also the Economic Coercion Instrument. But what do these files have in common? Against whom are we protecting ourselves?

Let’s be clear: the reality is we are protecting ourselves against a small number of three countries who have something in common, namely an offensive intellectual property theft programme directed against us. The second thing is they want to thwart the liberal world order. And thirdly, last but not least, they are willing and able to do so in our own backyard, here, extraterritorially.

That’s the problem. It’s Russia, Iran and China; let’s name these three. We might believe we live in peace with the world, but yet they declared a conflict against us. And yet we formulate generic responses.

But, dear Commissioner, country-specific problems require country-specific legislation against these three nations. That’s what we’d like to see in future.

  Markéta Gregorová, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, the geopolitical climate for Europe is getting harsher and we step up our efforts to secure vital entities in our single market as a whole. We respond to the growing impacts of climate change and to gaps and vulnerabilities that opened up in the pandemic.

And this directive really well complements our new DORA Act on financial services and our newly updated NIS 2 Directive for the resilience of digital infrastructure. And my colleagues already mentioned several other important legislation that has been built up in this House, and this is one of them.

This is where the magic happens, too. It lowers the bureaucratic burden by creating a single point of contact for businesses on these three and more legislations and streamlines requirements and reporting. This is a huge success and showcases the true potential what benefits the EU and cooperation in general can bring.

I am also happy to see that the risk assessment by Member States will now include cyber threats and risks for cross—sectoral or cross—border nature. This has been an important addition as we see our adversaries increasingly blurring the lines in their attacks and switching between domains.

I was hoping that this period of security cooperation and open access will prevail. In the form which I proposed, we will find ways to regularly publish findings of the Critical Entities Resilience Group for the general public for use in academia and security research, of course, adequately anonymised. Unfortunately, we still have some trust to build in this, I see.

That, of course, does not does not hinder the important work that has been done. This directive is timely and relevant, and it is my hope that Member States will diligently transpose it into their national laws, together with DORA and NIS 2.

  Silvia Sardone, a nome del gruppo ID. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, deve essere una priorità dell'Unione europea proteggere le infrastrutture critiche che sono essenziali per il funzionamento della nostra società e della nostra economia.

Negli ultimi anni abbiamo visto un notevole aumento di attacchi informatici, che hanno messo in seria difficoltà numerosi Stati, con gravi disagi per i servizi essenziali dei cittadini.

Bisogna garantire maggiore sicurezza per quei soggetti, in particolare le amministrazioni pubbliche, che ultimamente stanno subendo ciberattacchi e corrono anche il rischio di essere potenziali bersagli terroristici.

L'interconnessione tra reti, operatori e infrastrutture è sempre più globale ed è giusto ampliare i settori coinvolti. Bene infatti aver incluso anche l'agroalimentare tra quelli considerati di maggiore importanza critica, aver snellito gli oneri burocratici per i soggetti privati e aver fatto misure a sostegno delle piccole e medie imprese.

L'Europa si concentri sulla difesa dei cittadini e sulla sicurezza dei paesi dell'Unione con maggiore impegno.

  Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Panie Przewodniczący! Pani Komisarz! Szanowni Państwo! To, czego jesteśmy dzisiaj świadkami na Ukrainie, to barbarzyństwo putinowskich siepaczy, którzy, nie mogąc pokonać żołnierzy ukraińskich na polu bitwy, sięgnęli po ataki na obiekty cywilne, a przede wszystkim na infrastrukturę krytyczną, czego efektem jest praktyczny lockdown większości dużych miast Ukrainy. To wszystko powinno uświadomić nam, że dzisiaj w obliczu tego rosyjskiego satrapy żadne państwo w Europie nie jest bezpieczne. W ubiegłym tygodniu wskutek tych barbarzyńskich ataków rakietowych, o których mówiła Pani Komisarz – za te słowa chciałbym bardzo serdecznie podziękować, bo były to słowa prawdziwe, pokazujące w prawdziwym świetle to, czego dzisiaj doświadczają Ukraińcy – również w Polsce, w państwie członkowskim Unii Europejskiej, zginęło dwóch moich rodaków, ponieważ na terytorium Polski spadła rakieta.

Myślę, że to jest dobry czas, żeby ci wszyscy z państwa, szczególnie tutaj po lewej stronie, którzy atakują Polskę, atakują Polskę jako kraj frontowy, lojalny kraj Unii Europejskiej, pamiętali. Mamy chociażby w pamięci te wszystkie niemądre ataki, kiedy chroniliśmy Polskę przed hybrydowym atakiem ze strony Łukaszenki i Putina, kiedy próbowano przetransportować do Polski jako uchodźców nieszczęsnych zwiezionych przez Łukaszenkę tzw. turystów. Ilu wśród tych turystów mogło być potencjalnych terrorystów, agentów Putina, agentów Łukaszenki, którzy tak jak byliśmy tego świadkami, o czym mówiła Pani Komisarz, nie wahali się chociażby wysadzić gazociąg Nord Stream? Miejcie to Państwo w pamięci. Warto słuchać Polski.

  Mislav Kolakušić (NI). – Poštovani predsjedavajući, poštovani kolege, poštovani građani, građani Europske unije danas žive neusporedivo lošije i nesigurnije nego prije par godina. Vodstvo Europske unije nas želi uvjeriti da su uzrok tome isključivo pandemija COVID-a 19 i rat Rusije i Ukrajine.

Međutim, činjenice govore da su koronavirusi oduvijek s nama i bit će zauvijek s nama. Zauvijek će mutirati kao što su mutirali i do sada. Problem je u našoj reakciji na pandemiju COVID-a 19. koja je odnijela mnogobrojne živote. Poglavito pogrešna i katastrofalna upotreba respiratora koja je kriva za smrt milijuna ljudi od koje se nije htjelo odustati.

Rat u Ukrajini, tko je odrezao dotoke jeftine energije europskim građanima nego vodstvo Europske unije. Mi sami. Morate biti svjesni da su ratovi u ljudskoj prirodi i da će ratova biti dok budu dva čovjeka na planetu. Zanošenje da će ratovi nestati jer smo se mi skupili u Europsku uniju su vrlo naivni i trebamo ih napustiti.

  Benoît Lutgen (PPE). – Monsieur le Président, Madame la Commissaire, mes félicitations. Votre texte va dans le bon sens, celui de plus de protection par rapport à l’ensemble des infrastructures critiques pour l’Europe, notamment dans les secteurs de la santé et de l’alimentation. La pandémie nous a montré combien il était urgent de protéger ces secteurs aussi importants, aussi vitaux pour l’Europe – santé, alimentation, énergie –, de les protéger, notamment, contre les cyberattaques.

J’invite la Commission à aller plus loin. Je pense que pour ce qui est de notre indépendance – une forme de souveraineté qu’on peut trouver au niveau européen dans des secteurs aussi importants que l’énergie, que le numérique, que l’alimentation, que la santé et j’ajouterais même la défense –, nous devons aller plus loin pour éviter toute dépendance à l’avenir. On la crée parfois, notamment si on prend l’exemple de la décision qui a été prise ici et ailleurs d’avoir 100 % de véhicules électriques en 2035, ce qui crée une forme de dépendance à l’égard de la Chine. On le voit aussi lorsque la même Chine s’approprie des ports et des aéroports en Europe. Par rapport à tous ces secteurs stratégiques, tous ces endroits stratégiques, la Commission doit aller plus loin pour protéger les Européens, pour protéger au maximum notre indépendance, notre autonomie.

  Maria Grapini (S&D). – Domnule președinte, doamna comisar, stimați colegi, de multe ori vorbim foarte tehnic și poate mai puțin inteligibil pentru cetățeni. De fapt, ce înseamnă reziliența entităților critice? Înseamnă că noi ne gândim acum, prin această directivă, să creștem rezistența unor sectoare care țin până la urmă de calitatea vieții, de viața lor.

Energie, sănătate, alimentar, spațial... 11 domenii, așa cum s-a spus, sunt acoperite prin această directivă și evident că o rezistență mai mică a unui sector, a unei entități critice dintr-un anumit stat membru va duce în cascadă efecte în tot spațiul, în toată piața internă.

De aceea, cred foarte mult că este necesar să fie bine adoptată în legislația națională această directivă. Dar mai cred că infrastructurile în domeniile pe care le-am amintit aici trebuie să fie de calitate și de aceeași calitate, pentru a fi o competiție echitabilă în piață și pentru a avea rezistență egală în piață.

De aceea, cred foarte mult că trebuie să avem un singur spațiu, doamna comisar, și fac apel din nou la dumneavoastră. Știu că s-a votat în Consiliul Comisarilor să intre cele trei state România, Bulgaria și Croația în spațiul Schengen și să putem lucra la creșterea calității infrastructurii în cele 11 domenii.

  Moritz Körner (Renew). – Herr Präsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, Frau Kommissarin! Sabotage auf Nord Stream, Angriff auf das Bahnnetz in Norddeutschland – wir dürfen nicht naiv sein, wenn es um kritische Infrastruktur geht. Und gerade auch eine europäische Abstimmung in dieser Frage, was kritische Infrastruktur für uns ausmacht, wie wir sie gemeinsam schützen, ist wichtig. Und deswegen ist es wichtig, dass wir die Debatte haben und auch eine entsprechende Richtlinie jetzt, heute gemeinsam voranbringen.

Wir müssen aber auch darauf schauen, welche autoritären Staaten Einfluss auf unsere kritische Infrastruktur haben, welche Häfen von welchen Staaten gekauft sind oder welche Beteiligungen es gibt, wie wir unsere digitale Welt besser schützen müssen, indem wir Verschlüsselung schützen und nicht noch ihr schaden. Da müssen wir gemeinsam draufschauen. Wir müssen kritisch auf kritische Infrastruktur schauen – das tut die neue Richtlinie.

Vielen Dank an den Berichterstatter. Das ist ein richtiger Schritt, um unsere kritische Infrastruktur besser zu schützen.

  Tom Berendsen (PPE). – Voorzitter, een belangrijk stuk wetgeving vandaag, omdat de bescherming van onze kritieke infrastructuur heel belangrijk is. Wij hebben gezien hoe kwetsbaar onze energie-infrastructuur en onze data-infrastructuur kan zijn. Maar terwijl wij hier op Europees niveau bezig zijn met deze wetgeving, zetten lidstaten de achterdeur naar buitenlandse invloed wagenwijd open. 22 Europese havens zijn in zee gegaan met Chinese investeerders en geven daarbij belangrijke controlepunten in onze aanleveringsketen in handen van buitenlandse mogendheden. Er is een Europese havenstrategie nodig. We moeten die uitverkoop van Europese havens stoppen. Dat betekent dat we moeten werken aan een strategie waarin onze Europese havens concurrerend kunnen blijven zonder dat ze afhankelijk zijn van buitenlandse mogendheden. Want vrije handel is nog wel iets anders dan het uit handen geven van onze kritieke infrastructuur. We hebben de verantwoordelijkheid om onze economische veiligheid te garanderen voor de toekomst.

  Ondřej Kovařík (Renew). – Pane předsedající, vážená paní komisařko, pane zpravodaji, kolegové, vývoj v posledních letech nám jasně ukázal, že ochrana kritické infrastruktury už není pouze doménou bezpečnostní či striktně vojenskou. Hybridní působení, kybernetické útoky, pandemie koronaviru i probíhající válka na Ukrajině ukazují šíři možných hrozeb, kterým v současné době čelíme. Je zřejmé, že cílem útoků se stále více stává kybernetický prostor. Ten má potenciál doslova paralyzovat některé kritické aktivity, a to nejen na území jednoho státu, ale i v mezinárodním, potažmo globálním měřítku.

Vítám proto, že dnes projednávaná směrnice bere tuto novou realitu v potaz. Rozšiřuje množinu oblastí spadajících mezi kritická odvětví. Zahrnuje tak dopravu, zdravotnický systém, dodávky vody a tepla, energetiku nebo v neposlední řadě také finanční služby. Tato směrnice nabízí řadu nástrojů, jak se na tyto situace připravit, jak posílit naši vzájemnou odolnost a jak čelit hrozbám ve chvíli, kdy nastanou. Doufám, že vlády členských zemí tyto nástroje plně využijí.

  Henna Virkkunen (PPE). – Arvoisa puhemies, komissaari, Euroopan kriittisen infrastruktuurin häiriönsietokykyä on vahvistettava niin kyberturvallisuuden kuin fyysisen ympäristönkin osalta. Tämä nyt hyväksyttävä lainsäädäntö, yhdessä tieto- ja verkkoturvadirektiivin IS2:n kanssa, on tärkeä askel yhteisen eurooppalaisen turvallisuuden vahvistamiseksi.

Me olemme nähneet viime kuukausina, millaista tuhoa Venäjä kylvää Ukrainassa tuhoamalla kriittistä infrastruktuuria ja ajamalla ihmisiä ahdinkoon. Euroopan unionissa olemme kokeneet Nord Stream 2:n räjäytykset ja Saksan rataverkkoon kohdistuvat sabotaasit. Ne osoittavat, että on tärkeää vahvistaa yhteistä varautumista ja yhteistä reagointia ja tiivistää myös yhteistyötä Naton kanssa, kuten komissio lokakuussa esitti.

On hyvä askel, että tässä nyt hyväksyttävässä lainsäädännössä energia- ja liikenneinfran lisäksi mukaan on otettu kaikkiaan yksitoista hyvin kriittistä toimialaa, mukaan lukien digitaalinen infrastruktuuri, pankkitoiminta, juomavesi, terveys, elintarvikkeet. Tiedämme, että nämä kaikki ovat erittäin kriittisiä toimintoja yhteiskunnan ja kansalaisten elämän kannalta.

  Maite Pagazaurtundúa (Renew). – Señor presidente, señorías, pocas veces podemos estar de acuerdo sobre algo que es realmente tan importante y tan necesario. La Directiva para adaptar los ataques a nuestro sistema de infraestructuras críticas que van mutando, igual que va mutando la sociedad, es realmente un momento de felicitación colectiva. Tenemos que felicitar también a la Presidencia francesa por este acuerdo de última hora.

No podemos permitirnos estos ataques. Por ejemplo, hace menos de un mes en España, a través del Punto Neutro Judicial, un sistema gestionado por el Consejo General del Poder Judicial que conecta las redes de distintas administraciones públicas, los atacantes accedieron a millones de datos sensibles: carnets de identidad, declaraciones de la renta, cuentas bancarias, direcciones, vidas laborables, relaciones empresariales de todos y cada uno de los ciudadanos que figuraban en esas bases de datos conectados, políticos, empresarios, personajes de relevancia pública. Se lo llevaron todo: las bases de datos íntegras de los servicios de la Agencia Tributaria, la Seguridad Social, el Servicio Público de Empleo, Dirección General de la Policía, Extranjería o la Dirección General de Tráfico.

Estos y otros tipos de infraestructuras críticas son las principales vulnerabilidades en las guerras híbridas del presente —lo ha dicho hoy la comisaria— y del futuro. En Ucrania se ataca la electricidad, las comunicaciones. El secuestro de datos y el ataque de la energía puede llevar al desastre a nuestras sociedades.

Estamos reaccionando. Estamos de enhorabuena precisamente por eso. Pero debemos ser rápidos y debemos hacer visible este tipo de vulnerabilidad a nuestras sociedades.

Hoy estamos de enhorabuena.

Διαδικασία «catch the eye»

  Miriam Lexmann (PPE). – Mr President, I welcome this directive I was calling for since the beginning of my mandate. As Putin continues to wage his brutal and aggressive war against the people of Ukraine, he’s also continuing in his attempts to weaken and divide our democracies. Disinformation, cyber-attacks, espionage, strategic corruption of businesses and political cycles.

That’s why it is crucial that we seek attacks on critical infrastructure in this broader context and develop necessary tools. For this reason, I welcome the Protection of Critical Infrastructures Directive and the extension of the scope to 11 sectors, in order to better reflect the scale of the threat.

However, we can never adequately protect ourselves if we allow malign regimes to invest in our critical infrastructure. The case of Nord Stream 2 must be a lesson not only for our dealings with Russia, but also when it comes to Chinese Communist Party and others.

Such regimes must never again be allowed to use our critical infrastructure to undermine our resilience.

  Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D). – Señor presidente, señora comisaria Johansson, este Parlamento saluda esta revisión de la Directiva sobre el refuerzo de las infraestructuras y de las entidades críticas, que se enmarca en el refuerzo de la seguridad de los europeos frente a los ataques híbridos, puestos dramáticamente de manifiesto con ocasión de la guerra de Putin contra Ucrania, y que extiende la seguridad de los europeos, más allá de las energías y el transporte, a otros sectores afectados, como es la banca, como son las infraestructuras digitales y como son, por supuesto, el suministro de alimentos y, sobre todo, la sanidad y los datos de la salud pública.

Pero me permito una observación adicional: ahora que este Parlamento Europeo cumple 70 años, que es una edad en la que normalmente uno se retira o accede a la pensión, este Parlamento tiene las mejores razones para sentirse más joven que nunca y, por tanto, es importante también modernizar el lenguaje.

Cuando se habla de resiliencia, de entidades críticas, ¿estamos diciéndole claramente a los europeos de lo que se trata? Mi respuesta es no. Podemos ser mucho más gráficos y eficaces si les decimos que estamos reforzando su seguridad frente al sabotaje y frente a los ataques a la intimidad y a la privacidad de las personas, y que estamos protegiendo mejor sus derechos fundamentales en el mundo en que nos toca vivir.

  Juozas Olekas (S&D). – Gerbiamas Pirmininke, gerbiama Komisijos nare, iš tikrųjų, prisijungiu prie kolegų sveikinimų, kad toks dokumentas yra pateiktas ir, tikiuosi, bus priimtas. Bet kolegos taip pat paminėjo, kiek pavojingos Europos Sąjungai yra tokios kritinės infrastruktūros atakos, kiek tokių pasikėsinimų yra buvę, paminėti Vokietijos atvejai ir kiti. Bet taip pat matome, kaip Putinas panaudoja atakas prieš infrastruktūrą kariaudamas su Ukraina ir nustumdamas Ukrainos tautą į tikrai šaltą žiemą ir sukeldamas didžiulius pavojus gyvybei. Gerbiami kolegos, aš manau, kad mes visi turime pritarti šiam sprendimui ir ypatingai stebėti, kaip tie sprendimai bus įgyvendinti tiek Europos Sąjungos lygmeniu, tiek valstybėse narėse. Nes manau, kad veikiant tik kartu ir panaudojant bendrus finansus, mes pajėgsime apsaugoti šią infrastruktūrą. Pritariu tam, kad infrastruktūros objektai yra išplėsti, ypatingai maisto ir sveikatos sektoriuje, nes manau, kad šios sritys pasirodė ypatingai svarbios tiek pandemijos, tiek karo metu. Ačiū.

(Λήξη της διαδικασίας «catch the eye»)

  Ylva Johansson, Member of the Commission. – Thank you very much for this important debate. It clearly showed that we all agree on the importance of better protecting critical entities and the importance of this legislation that you will vote on today.

I will again reiterate my special thanks to the rapporteur, Mr Šimečka, and the shadows, but also, of course, to the French Presidency and the Council, which managed to reach a swift agreement on this important legislation.

We have to take responsibility together as a union, and the best action we can take right now is to make sure that we are ready for what is to come. The directive will soon enter into force. It’s now up to the Member States to use it to full effect ahead of time, and to carry out the stress tests to bolster our preparedness and response to protect our infrastructure and our people.

  Michal Šimečka, rapporteur. – Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, thank you so much for the discussion and thank you for the support. It is quite rare that there is such a broad consensus in this Parliament from the left to the right. And not just a consensus and an agreement on this text that is going to be voted on later on, but also consensus and an agreement on the kind of threats that we face and on the kind of actions that we need to take.

I note that a lot of you, colleagues, have approved of the expansion of the sectors that will be covered in this directive to 11. I am also happy that there’s strong agreement on that. I should also mention, highlight, that the philosophy of this directive is somewhat different from the last one, and I appreciate that. I think this is also where there is a consensus: that we’re moving from just protecting particular pieces of critical infrastructure – assets and buildings and whatnot – to a philosophy where we’re focusing on the resilience of those essential services. And I think this reflects this new and dangerous world that we’re entering where the risks can't all be eliminated. There will be threats, there will be incidents. And we need to be clear with our citizens that not with this directive, not with anything we can do, can we eliminate all the risks falling from natural catastrophes to war to hybrid sabotage attacks. What we can do, though, is to minimise those risks and to make sure that when incidents happen, we are prepared and our entities, be they public or private, are able to bounce back and carry on with the services that are essential for our societies and for our single market. And this is what this directive does. This is what it’s for. And with its approval and with its implementation, the European Union, its citizens, its single market will be all the more secure.

So let me again say thanks so much to the Commission, to the French Presidency, to all my colleagues from the political groups. And I would just reiterate the call of the Commissioner for Member States to implement this as swiftly as possible.

  Πρόεδρος. – Η συζήτηση έληξε.

Η ψηφοφορία θα διεξαχθεί σήμερα.

Γραπτές δηλώσεις (άρθρο 171 του Κανονισμού)

  Mihai Tudose (S&D), în scris. – Am aprobat noile norme europene, menite să consolideze infrastructura esențială din UE în fața unei arii de provocări extinse prin această directivă.

Atacurilor teroriste li se adaugă, de acum, dezastrele naturale și actele de sabotaj. Totodată, se extinde domeniul de aplicare la unsprezece sectoare, între care: energie, transport, bănci, infrastructuri ale pieței financiare, sănătate, apă potabilă, alimente, infrastructură digitală. De asemenea, se instituie reguli minime comune, pe baza cărora statele membre vor clasifica aceiași furnizori ca fiind esențiali.

Susțin solicitarea adresată statelor UE să adopte strategii naționale pentru a consolida reziliența și să efectueze evaluări periodice ale riscurilor. În acest sens, autoritățile naționale vor putea efectua inspecții la fața locului ale infrastructurilor critice și vor putea aplica sancțiuni în caz de nerespectare a obligațiilor. Un rol important va reveni procesului de avertizare în caz de incident și comunicării transfrontaliere între punctele naționale de contact, care se vor înființa.

Crizele succesive ce au pus la încercare infrastructura esențială a UE - pandemia și războiul - au făcut ca aceste modificări legislative să fie necesare și urgente. De aceea, consider că transpunerea directivei de către statele membre trebuie făcută mult mai rapid față de termenul de doi ani prevăzut.