HELSINKI (Reuters) -The European Commission will propose boosting surveillance of undersea cables and establishing a fleet of vessels available to repair cables in emergencies, it said in an action plan published on Friday.
Some European governments are concerned about a number of recent incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged, possibly on purpose.
“We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and detect sabotage to cables but also to actively deter, repair and respond to any threat to critical infrastructure that is key to our economy and collective security,” said Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice president in charge of security.
On Friday, Swedish police said they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea.
NATO said last month that some of its member countries are deploying frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure.
In its action plan, the European Commission said that it would take steps to deter, prevent, detect and respond to damage to cables.
While no new funding has been announced, the Commission plans to channel hundreds of millions of euros already available under the bloc’s budget towards these aims.
Together with EU members, the Commission said it would support the development of a surveillance mechanism “designed to link and fuse data” and “launch a dedicated surveillance drones programme” in the air and under the sea.
It will also work to establish a regional hub in the Baltic Sea region as a test for the new surveillance approach, according to the plan.
Another goal the Commission outlined is ensuring the security of supply of spare parts and in the medium term, proposing to create a reserve fleet “to be used in case of emergency, to deploy or repair electric or optical submarine cables”.
The Commission, together with the bloc’s foreign policy chief, will additionally enhance cooperation with NATO on the resilience and protection of undersea infrastructure, it said, adding that the EU will hold malicious actors accountable.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer)
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