Recently, in particular attacks against Estonian critical information infrastructures as well as a confirmed growing amount of child sexual abuse material available on the Internet highlight the urgency to act against this new type of criminality. Cyber criminal activities often cross borders in fractions of a second and touch several states at the same time.

From a law enforcement perspective, this gives rise to issues connected to the determination of the competent jurisdiction, applicable law, cross-border enforcement and the recognition and use of electronic evidence. It is clear that an enhanced international co-operation to fight cyber crime is necessary, as no policy on cyber crime can be effective if efforts are confined to state boundaries. The emphasis put on global international cooperation does however not in any way render EU cooperation less important. On the contrary, the development of an integrated European strategy to fight cyber crime is essential to make it possible for Europe to contribute more effectively to global efforts against cyber crime.

A common strategy is also nec- Secondly, the Commission actively promotes the development of crossborder law enforcement cooperation within the EU. Cyber crimes are not only international to their character, but they are also committed extremely rapidly. It is therefore very important to be able to take rapid action across borders to apprehend cyber criminals who may be moving quickly over the borders.

The establishment of closer contacts between Member State cyber crime experts is thus very important, and the Commission supports this process with different policy tools. These tools include the reinforcement of contact points in the Member States, the development of an EU Platform for training of anti-cyber crime experts and the organisation of exchanges of best practices between the states. Thirdly, the Commission promotes cooperation between law enforcement authorities and private operators in the fight against cyber crime in the EU. In order to formulate an effective anti-cyber crime policy, it is of particular importance that updated information on cyber crime is exchanged between law enforcement and private operators.

In 2007, the Commission organised a publicprivate expert meeting to discuss how such cooperation can best be promoted in the EU and concrete proposals in this sense are foreseen for 2008. The actions described above are no doubt only the beginning of an internationalisation of the fight against cyber crime, beginning at EU-level. The Commission is committed to contribute to this development as far as appropriate and needed. Cybercrime and cybersecurity in Europe essary with respect to the anti-cyber crime aspects of the construction of common European Area of Justice, Freedom and Security.

The Commission is consequently since a number of years, in close cooperation with the Member States and other EU and international institutions, developing a coherent EU strategy to fight cyber crime. A number of important steps in the formulation of the strategy were recently presented in the Commission Communication “Towards a general strategy on the fight against cyber crime” of 22 May 2007. In the Communication, the framework of an EU general strategy was outlined, and I would in particular mention three areas here: Firstly, the Commission takes part in the legislative processes in the EU.

National legislation in the area is closely monitored, with the long-term objective of achieving a certain degree of approximation of relevant criminal law. This approximation is desirable in order to avoid any gaps in Member States’ laws that could hamper the response of law enforcement and judicial authorities at national level to the growing threats. When there is a concrete need at EUlevel, the Commission will also propose adequate EU legislation.

The arguably most important example of such legislation is the Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA on attacks against information systems. The Framework Decision ensures a minimum level of approximation of criminal law for the most significant forms of criminal activity against information systems, such as illegal access, illegal system and data interference. Most Member States have correctly implemented the rules of the Framework Decision, and I have good hope that the rest will follow.�

Franco FRATTINI,
Vice President and EU Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom, and Security (Commissioner Franco Frattini has
decided to take a one-month leave of absence from his position with the European Commission, as provided by our Code of Conduct).

The European Files N°14 - April 2008