Cyber Resilience Act 2023/2841 EN

1. Following the conclusion of the cybersecurity maturity assessment carried out pursuant to Article 7 and taking into account the assets and cybersecurity risks identified in the Framework as well as the cybersecurity risk-management measures taken pursuant to Article 8, the highest_level_of_management of each Union entity shall approve a cybersecurity plan without undue delay and in any event by 8 January 2026. The cybersecurity plan shall aim at increasing the overall cybersecurity of the Union entity and shall thereby contribute to the enhancement of a high common level of cybersecurity within the Union_entities. The cybersecurity plan shall include at least the cybersecurity risk-management measures taken pursuant to Article 8. The cybersecurity plan shall be revised every two years, or more frequently where necessary, following the cybersecurity maturity assessments carried out pursuant to Article 7 or any substantial review of the Framework.

2. The cybersecurity plan shall include the Union entity’s cyber crisis management plan for major incidents.

3. The Union entity shall submit the completed cybersecurity plan to the Interinstitutional Cybersecurity Board established pursuant to Article 10.

CHAPTER III

INTERINSTITUTIONAL CYBERSECURITY BOARD

Article 10

Interinstitutional Cybersecurity Board

1. An Interinstitutional Cybersecurity Board (IICB) is hereby established.

2. The IICB shall be responsible for:

(a)	monitoring and supporting the implementation of this Regulation by the Union_entities;

(b)	supervising the implementation of general priorities and objectives by CERT-EU and providing strategic direction to CERT-EU.

3. The IICB shall consist of:

(a)

one representative designated by each of the following:

(i)	the European Parliament;

(ii)	the European Council;

(iii)

the Council of the European Union;

(iv)	the Commission;

(v)	the Court of Justice of the European Union;

(vi)	the European Central Bank;

(vii)

the Court of Auditors;

(viii)

the European External Action Service;

(ix)	the European Economic and Social Committee;

(x)	the European Committee of the Regions;

(xi)	the European Investment Bank;

(xii)

the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre;

(xiii)

ENISA;

(xiv)

the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS);

(xv)	the European Union Agency for the Space Programme.

(b)	three representatives designated by the EU Agencies Network (EUAN) on the basis of a proposal by its ICT Advisory Committee to represent the interests of the bodies, offices and agencies of the Union that run their own ICT environment, other than those referred to in point (a).

The Union_entities represented on the IICB shall aim to achieve gender balance among the designated representatives.

4. Members of the IICB may be assisted by an alternate. Other representatives of the Union_entities referred to in paragraph 3 or of other Union_entities may be invited by the Chair to attend IICB meetings without voting power.

5. The Head of CERT-EU and the Chairs of the Cooperation Group, the CSIRTs network and EU-CyCLONe established, respectively, pursuant to Articles 14, 15 and 16 of Directive (EU) 2022/2555, or their alternates, may participate in IICB meetings as observers. In exceptional cases, the IICB may, in accordance with its internal rules of procedure, decide otherwise.

6. The IICB shall adopt its internal rules of procedure.

7. The IICB shall designate a Chair in accordance with its internal rules of procedure, from among its members for a period of three years. The Chair’s alternate shall become a full member of the IICB for the same duration.

8. The IICB shall meet at least three times a year at the initiative of its Chair, at the request of CERT-EU or at the request of any of its members.

9. Each member of the IICB shall have one vote. The IICB’s decisions shall be taken by simple majority except where otherwise provided for in this Regulation. The Chair of the IICB shall not have a vote except in the event of a tied vote, in which case the Chair may cast a deciding vote.

10. The IICB may act by means of a simplified written procedure initiated in accordance with its internal rules of procedure. Under that procedure, the relevant decision shall be deemed to be approved within the timeframe set by the Chair, except where a member objects.

11. The secretariat of the IICB shall be provided by the Commission and shall be accountable to the Chair of the IICB.

12. The representatives nominated by the EUAN shall relay the IICB’s decisions to the members of the EUAN. Any member of the EUAN shall be entitled to raise with those representatives or the Chair of the IICB any matter which it considers should be brought to the IICB’s attention.

13. The IICB may establish an executive committee to assist it in its work, and delegate some of its tasks and powers to it. The IICB shall lay down the rules of procedure of the executive committee, including its tasks and powers, and the terms of office of its members.

14. By 8 January 2025 and on an annual basis thereafter, the IICB shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council detailing progress made with the implementation of this Regulation and specifying in particular the extent of cooperation of CERT-EU with Member State counterparts in each of the Member States. The report shall constitute an input to the biennial report on the state of cybersecurity in the Union adopted pursuant to Article 18 of Directive (EU) 2022/2555.

Article 11

Tasks of the IICB

When exercising its responsibilities, the IICB shall, in particular:

(a)	provide guidance to the Head of CERT-EU;

(b)	effectively monitor and supervise the implementation of this Regulation and support the Union_entities in strengthening their cybersecurity, including, where appropriate, requesting ad-hoc reports from Union_entities and CERT-EU;

(c)	following a strategic discussion, adopt a multiannual strategy on raising the level of cybersecurity in the Union_entities, asses that strategy on a regular basis and in any event every five years and, where necessary, amend that strategy;

(d)

establish the methodology and organisational aspects for the conduct of voluntary peer reviews by Union_entities, with a view to learning from shared experiences, strengthening mutual trust, achieving a high common level of cybersecurity, as well as enhancing Union_entities’ cybersecurity capabilities, ensuring that such peer reviews are conducted by cybersecurity experts designated by a Union entity different from the Union entity being reviewed and that the methodology is based on Article 19 of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 and is, where appropriate, adapted to the Union_entities;

(e)	approve, on the basis of a proposal by the Head of CERT-EU, CERT-EU’s annual work programme and monitor its implementation;

(f)	approve, on the basis of a proposal by the Head of CERT-EU, CERT-EU’s service catalogue and any updates thereof;

(g)	approve, on the basis of a proposal by the Head of CERT-EU, the annual financial planning of revenue and expenditure, including staffing, for CERT-EU activities;

(h)	approve, on the basis of a proposal by the Head of CERT-EU, the arrangements for service level agreements;

(i)	examine and approve the annual report drawn up by the Head of CERT-EU covering the activities of, and management of funds by, CERT-EU;

(j)	approve and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for CERT-EU established on the basis of a proposal by the Head of CERT-EU;

(k)	approve cooperation arrangements, service level agreements or contracts between CERT-EU and other entities pursuant to Article 18;

(l)	adopt guidelines and recommendations on the basis of a proposal by CERT-EU in accordance with Article 14 and instruct CERT-EU to issue, withdraw or modify a proposal for guidelines or recommendations, or a call for action;

(m)	establish technical advisory groups with specific tasks to assist the IICB’s work, approve their terms of reference and designate their respective Chairs;

(n)	receive and assess documents and reports submitted by the Union_entities under this Regulation, such as cybersecurity maturity assessments;

(o)	facilitate the establishment of an informal group of local cybersecurity officers of Union_entities, supported by ENISA, with the aim of exchanging best practices and information in relation to the implementation of this Regulation;

(p)	taking into account the information on the identified cybersecurity risks and lessons learnt provided by CERT-EU, monitor the adequacy of interconnectivity arrangements among the Union_entities’ ICT environments and advise on possible improvements;

(q)

establish a cyber crisis management plan with a view to supporting, at an operational level, the coordinated management of major incidents affecting Union_entities and to contributing to the regular exchange of relevant information, in particular with regard to the impacts and severity of, and the possible ways of mitigating the effects of, major incidents;

(r)	coordinate the adoption of individual Union_entities’ cyber crisis management plans referred to in Article 9(2);

(s)

adopt recommendations relating to supply chain security referred to in Article 8(2), first subparagraph, point (m), taking into account the results of Union level coordinated security risk assessments of critical supply chains referred to in Article 22 of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to support Union_entities in adopting effective and proportionate cybersecurity risk-management measures.

Article 12

Compliance

1. The IICB shall, pursuant to Article 10(2) and Article 11, effectively monitor the implementation of this Regulation and of adopted guidelines, recommendations and calls for action by the Union_entities. The IICB may request information or documentation necessary for that purpose from the Union_entities. For the purpose of adopting compliance measures under this Article, where the Union entity concerned is directly represented on the IICB, that Union entity shall not have voting rights.

2. Where the IICB finds that a Union entity has not effectively implemented this Regulation or guidelines, recommendations or calls for action issued pursuant thereto, it may, without prejudice to the internal procedures of the Union entity concerned, and after giving an opportunity to the Union entity concerned to present its observations:

(a)	communicate a reasoned opinion to the Union entity concerned with observed gaps in the implementation of this Regulation;

(b)	provide, after consulting CERT-EU, guidelines to the Union entity concerned to ensure that its Framework, cybersecurity risk-management measures, cybersecurity plan and reporting comply with this Regulation within a specified period;

(c)	issue a warning to address identified shortcomings within a specified period, including recommendations to amend measures adopted by the Union entity concerned pursuant to this Regulation;

(d)	issue a reasoned notification to the Union entity concerned, in the event that shortcomings identified in a warning issued pursuant to point (c) were not sufficiently addressed within the specified period;

(e)

issue:

(i)	a recommendation for an audit to be carried out; or

(ii)	a request that an audit be performed by a third-party audit service;

(f)	if applicable, inform the Court of Auditors, within the remit of its mandate, of the alleged non-compliance;

(g)	issue a recommendation that all Member States and Union_entities implement a temporary suspension of data flows to the Union entity concerned.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (c), the audience of a warning shall be restricted appropriately, where necessary in view of the cybersecurity risk.

Warnings and recommendations issued pursuant to the first subparagraph shall be directed to the highest_level_of_management of the Union entity concerned.

3. Where the IICB has adopted measures under paragraph 2, first subparagraph, points (a) to (g), the Union entity concerned shall provide details of the measures and actions taken to address the alleged shortcomings identified by the IICB. The Union entity shall submit those details within a reasonable period to be agreed with the IICB.

4. Where the IICB considers that there is persistent infringement of this Regulation by a Union entity resulting directly from actions or omissions of an official or other servant of the Union, including at the highest_level_of_management, the IICB shall request that the Union entity concerned take appropriate action, including requesting it to consider taking action of a disciplinary nature, in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down in the Staff Regulations and any other applicable rules and procedures. To that end, the IICB shall transfer the necessary information to the Union entity concerned.

5. Where Union_entities notify that they are unable to meet the deadlines set out in Article 6(1) and Article 8(1), the IICB may, in duly substantiated cases, taking into account the size of the Union entity, authorise the extension of those deadlines.

CHAPTER IV

CERT-EU

Article 15

Head of CERT-EU

1. The Commission, after obtaining the approval of a majority of two thirds of the members of the IICB, shall appoint the Head of CERT-EU. The IICB shall be consulted at all stages of the appointment procedure, in particular with regard to drafting vacancy notices, examining applications and appointing selection boards in relation to the post. The selection procedure, including the final shortlist of candidates from which the Head of CERT-EU is to be appointed, shall ensure fair representation of each gender, taking into account the applications submitted.

2. The Head of CERT-EU shall be responsible for the proper functioning of CERT-EU and shall act within the remit of his or her role and under the direction of the IICB. The Head of CERT-EU shall report regularly to the Chair of the IICB and shall submit ad-hoc reports to the IICB upon its request.

3. The Head of CERT-EU shall assist the responsible authorising officer by delegation in drafting the annual activity report containing financial and management information, including the results of controls, drawn up in accordance with Article 74(9) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9), and shall report regularly to the authorising officer by delegation on the implementation of measures in respect of which powers have been sub-delegated to the Head of CERT-EU.

4. The Head of CERT-EU shall draw up, on an annual basis, a financial planning of administrative revenue and expenditure for its activities, a proposed annual work programme, a proposed service catalogue for CERT-EU, proposed revisions of the service catalogue, proposed arrangements for service level agreements and proposed KPIs for CERT-EU, to be approved by the IICB in accordance with Article 11. When revising the list of services in CERT-EU’s service catalogue, the Head of CERT-EU shall take into account the resources allocated to CERT-EU.

5. The Head of CERT-EU shall submit reports at least annually to the IICB and the Chair of the IICB on the activities and performance of CERT-EU during the reference period, including on the implementation of the budget, service level agreements and written agreements entered into, cooperation with counterparts and partners, and missions undertaken by staff, including the reports referred to in Article 11. Those reports shall include a work programme for the following period, financial planning of revenue and expenditure, including staffing, planned updates of CERT-EU’s service catalogue and an assessment of the expected impact that such updates may have with regard to financial and human resources.

Article 20

Cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements

1. Union_entities may, on a voluntary basis, notify CERT-EU of, and provide it with information on, incidents, cyber_threats, near_misses and vulnerabilities that affect them. CERT-EU shall ensure that efficient means of communication, with a high level of traceability, confidentiality and reliability, are available for the purpose of facilitating information sharing with the Union_entities. When processing notifications, CERT-EU may prioritise the processing of mandatory notifications over voluntary notifications. Without prejudice to Article 12, voluntary notification shall not result in the imposition of any additional obligations upon the reporting Union entity to which it would not have been subject had it not submitted the notification.

2. To perform its mission and tasks conferred pursuant to Article 13, CERT-EU may request Union_entities to provide it with information from their respective ICT system inventories, including information relating to cyber_threats, near_misses, vulnerabilities, indicators of compromise, cybersecurity alerts and recommendations regarding configuration of cybersecurity tools to detect incidents. The requested Union entity shall transmit the requested information, and any subsequent updates thereto, without undue delay.

3. CERT-EU may exchange incident-specific information with Union_entities which reveals the identity of the Union entity affected by the incident, provided that the Union entity affected consents. Where a Union entity withholds its consent, it shall provide CERT-EU with reasons substantiating that decision.

4. Union_entities shall, upon request, share information with the European Parliament and the Council on the completion of cybersecurity plans.

5. The IICB or CERT-EU, as applicable, shall, upon request, share guidelines, recommendations and calls for action with the European Parliament and the Council.

6. The sharing obligations laid down in this Article shall not extend to:

(a)

EUCI;

(b)	information the further distribution of which has been excluded by means of a visible marking, unless the sharing thereof with CERT-EU has been explicitly allowed.

Article 21

Reporting obligations

1. An incident shall be considered to be significant if:

(a)	it has caused or is capable of causing severe operational disruption to the functioning of, or financial loss to, the Union entity concerned;

(b)	it has affected or is capable of affecting other natural or legal persons by causing considerable material or non-material damage.

2. Union_entities shall submit to CERT-EU:

(a)

without undue delay and in any event within 24 hours of becoming aware of the significant incident, an early warning, which, where applicable, shall indicate that the significant incident is suspected of being caused by unlawful or malicious acts or could have a cross-entity or a cross-border impact;

(b)

without undue delay and in any event within 72 hours of becoming aware of the significant incident, an incident notification, which, where applicable, shall update the information referred to in point (a) and indicate an initial assessment of the significant incident, including its severity and impact, as well as, where available, the indicators of compromise;

(c)	upon the request of CERT-EU, an intermediate report on relevant status updates;

(d)

a final report not later than one month after the submission of the incident notification under point (b), including the following:

(i)	a detailed description of the incident, including its severity and impact;

(ii)	the type of threat or root cause that is likely to have triggered the incident;

(iii)

applied and ongoing mitigation measures;

(iv)	where applicable, the cross-border or cross-entity impact of the incident;

(e)	in the event of an ongoing incident at the time of the submission of the final report referred to in point (d), a progress report at that time and a final report within one month of their handling of the incident.

3. A Union entity shall, without undue delay and in any event within 24 hours of becoming aware of a significant incident, inform any relevant Member State counterparts referred to in Article 17(1) in the Member State where it is located that a significant incident has occurred.

4. The Union_entities shall notify, inter alia, any information enabling CERT-EU to determine any cross-entity impact, impact on the hosting Member State or cross-border impact following a significant incident. Without prejudice to Article 12, the mere act of notification shall not subject the Union entity to increased liability.

5. Where applicable, Union_entities shall communicate, without undue delay, to the users of the network_and_information_systems affected, or of other components of the ICT environment, that are potentially affected by a significant incident or a significant cyber_threat, and, where appropriate, need to take mitigating measures, any measures or remedies that they can take in response to that incident or that threat. Where appropriate, Union_entities shall inform those users of the significant cyber_threat itself.

6. Where a significant incident or significant cyber_threat affects a network_and_information_system, or a component of a Union entity’s ICT environment that is knowingly connected with another Union entity’s ICT environment, CERT-EU shall issue a relevant cybersecurity alert.

7. The Union_entities, upon the request of CERT-EU, shall, without undue delay, provide CERT-EU with digital information created by the use of electronic devices involved in their respective incidents. CERT-EU may provide further details of the types of information that it requires for situational awareness and incident response.

8. CERT-EU shall submit to the IICB, ENISA, the EU INTCEN and the CSIRTs network, every three months, a summary report including anonymised and aggregated data on significant incidents, incidents, cyber_threats, near_misses and vulnerabilities pursuant to Article 20 and significant incidents notified pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article. The summary report shall constitute an input to the biennial report on the state of cybersecurity in the Union adopted pursuant to Article 18 of Directive (EU) 2022/2555.

9. By 8 July 2024, the IICB shall issue guidelines or recommendations further specifying the arrangements for, and format and content of, the reporting pursuant to this Article. When preparing such guidelines or recommendations, the IICB shall take into account any implementing acts adopted pursuant to Article 23(11) of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 specifying the type of information, the format and the procedure of notifications. CERT-EU shall disseminate the appropriate technical details to enable proactive detection, incident response or mitigating measures by Union_entities.

10. The reporting obligations laid down in this Article shall not extend to:

(a)

EUCI;

(b)	information the further distribution of which has been excluded by means of a visible marking, unless the sharing thereof with CERT-EU has been explicitly allowed.

Article 25

Review

1. By 8 January 2025 and on an annual basis thereafter, the IICB, with the assistance of CERT-EU, shall report to the Commission on the implementation of this Regulation. The IICB may make recommendations to the Commission to review this Regulation.

2. By 8 January 2027 and every two years thereafter, the Commission shall assess and report on the implementation of this Regulation and on the experience gained at a strategic and operational level to the European Parliament and to the Council.

The report referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall include the review referred to in Article 16(1), on the possibility of establishing CERT-EU as a Union office.

3. By 8 January 2029, the Commission shall evaluate the functioning of this Regulation and submit a report to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The Commission shall also evaluate the appropriateness of including network_and_information_systems handling EUCI within the scope of this Regulation, taking into account other Union legislative acts applicable to those systems. The report shall be accompanied, where necessary, by a legislative proposal.

whereas

keyboard_tab Cyber Resilience Act 2023/2841 EN

Cyber Resilience Act 2023/2841 EN