Von der Leyen Proposes EU Emergency Mechanism for Cyber Threats

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed an emergency mechanism allowing any European Union member state to convene the bloc’s governments in response to security threats including sabotage, cyber-attacks and drone incursions.

Speaking in Strasbourg on Wednesday during her annual State of the Union address, von der Leyen said threats were “mounting on our soil”. She referred to recent incidents in Denmark, Lithuania and Poland, as well as an attempted drone attack in Leipzig, and said that cyber-attacks, sabotage, arson and drone incursions were “ramping up every day”.

Von der Leyen argued that the EU’s institutions and decision-making processes had not kept pace with the changing threat environment, saying: “Our systems were made for a different world.” The report does not provide further details about how the proposed mechanism would operate, nor does it identify those responsible for the incidents or confirm that the cited cyber-attacks were linked.