CURRENT ARTICLES
Fall 2020, No. 2, vol. 2 / Romanian Cyber Security Journal
The European Union as a Global Actor in Cyberspace: Can the Cyber Sanctions Regime Effectively Deter Cyber-Threats?
Martina CALLERI
martinacalleri94@gmail.com
Abstract:
This paper presents and analyses the cyber sanctions regime of the European
Union (EU) approved by the Council of the EU on May 17, 2019. The broader aim is to explore
the effectiveness of the EU’s approach towards cyber diplomacy. To do so, the strategy and
means leveraged by the EU to influence the behaviour of potential aggressors in cyberspace
are analysed.
The first argument is that the EU’s ambitions as a global actor in cyberspace are not met by
its cyber-defence capabilities. As for similar challenges that the EU is facing in the realm
of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), there is a capability-expectations gap
[Hill, 1993] in cyber-defence.
Important actions have been taken to recognise the importance of a free, open and secure
internet. Nevertheless, more capabilities are needed to dissuade state actors from carrying
out cyber-attacks against EU assets. The final part of the paper aims to explore how the
cyber sanctions regime tackles the need to fill the EU’s capability-expectation gap in
cyber‑defence.
Keywords:
cyber security, cyber sanctions regime, cyber defence
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