EU Proposes Emergency Protocol for Coordinated Response to Cyberattacks and Sabotage

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg to propose an emergency mechanism that would let any EU member state call together all 27 governments in response to security threats, including cyberattacks, sabotage, arson and drone incursions. She pointed to recent incidents in Denmark, Lithuania and Poland, as well as an attempted drone attack in Leipzig, saying such threats are 'mounting on our soil' and increasing 'every day'.

Von der Leyen said the EU's current decision-making systems, built around consensus and compromise, were 'made for a different world' and may no longer be fit for purpose. She announced that the Commission and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas would put forward a new European security strategy including what she called an Emergency Security Protocol, modelled on NATO's Article 4 consultation mechanism.

The proposal does not yet detail what would happen once governments are convened under the protocol, or whether it would change the EU's unanimity requirements for foreign policy and sanctions decisions. That gap was highlighted this week when EU ambassadors failed to agree on the routine renewal of sanctions against Russia.