Infrastructure Security

Critical infrastructure can be damaged, destroyed or disrupted by deliberate acts of terrorism, natural disasters, negligence, accidents or computer hacking, criminal activity and malicious behaviour. To save the lives and property of people at risk in the EU from terrorism, natural disasters and accidents, any disruptions or manipulations of critical infrastructures should, to the extent possible, be brief, infrequent, manageable, geographically isolated and minimally detrimental to the welfare of the Member States, their citizens and the European Union.

The recent terrorist attacks in Madrid and London have highlighted the risk of terrorist attacks against European infrastructure. The EU’s response must therefore be swift, coordinated and efficient.

The damage or loss of a piece of infrastructure in one State may have negative effects on several others and on the European economy as a whole. This is becoming increasingly likely as new technologies (e.g. the Internet) and market liberalisation (e.g. in electricity and gas supply) mean that much infrastructure is part of a larger network. In such a situation protection measures are only as strong as their weakest link. This means that a common level of protection may be necessary. A common EU level framework for the protection of critical infrastructure in Europe could be put in place in order to make sure that each Member State is providing adequate and equal levels of protection concerning their critical infrastructure and that the rules of competition within the internal market are not distorted.

Topics of Discussion

• Identifying and responding to the threat posed to Airports & Aviation
• Balancing Security & Commerce
• Biometrics role in a world class airport
• Border security & travel documentation
• Funding, Infrastructure Deployment and Emerging Issues
• Perimeter Intrusion Detection
• Multi-Purpose NBC Decontamination Systems
• Blast containment
• Baggage & Cabin Baggage Screening

Articles

• EU updates rules for cross-border energy networks (euractiv.com)
• EPCIP European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (European Commission)
• Internet security and critical infrastructures (eurescom.de)
• EU infrastructure security proposals (Pangloss)