Fourth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union

Today, the Commission presented its fourth report on the progress made towards building an effective and genuine Security Union. This month’s report highlights key developments in four areas: (i) information systems and interoperability, (ii) soft target protection, (iii) cyber threat and (iv) data protection in the context of criminal investigations. The report also outlines some of the upcoming initiatives aimed at further strengthening the EU’s defence and resilience against terrorism and organised crime. European Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King, said: “It’s essential that we continue our important work on further connecting and improving our databases and information exchange as it will make a real difference to Europe’s security. In addition, with increasing concerns around cyber threats, we need to put extra effort into building our resilience within cyber space, tackling cybercrime, investing in research and innovation in this area and cooperating widely with industry, Member States and third countries. This is why, in the months to come, we will identify further actions to provide an effective EU-wide framework for cybersecurity”. The report is available here, while the next progress report is due to be published on 1 March.