The European Commission launches a new public-private partnership on cybersecurity that is expected to trigger €1.8 billion of investment by 2020. This is part of a series of new initiatives to better equip Europe against cyber-attacks and to strengthen the competitiveness of its cybersecurity sector.

As part of its Digital Single Market strategy the Commission wants to reinforce cooperation across borders, and between all actors and sectors active in cybersecurity, and to help develop secure technologies, products and services throughout the EU.

Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: "Without trust and security, there can be no Digital Single Market. Europe has to be ready to tackle cyber-threats that are increasingly sophisticated and do not recognise borders. Today, we are proposing concrete measures to strengthen Europe's resilience against such attacks and secure the capacity needed for building and expanding our digital economy."

Today's action plan includes the launch of the first European public private partnership on cybersecurity. The EU will invest €450 million in this partnership, under its research and innovation programme Horizon 2020. Cybersecurity market players, represented by the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), are expected to invest three times more. This partnership will also include members from national, regional and local public administrations, research centres and academia. The aim of the partnership is to foster cooperation at early stages of the research process and to build cybersecurity solutions for various sectors, such as energy, health, transport and finance.

The Network and Information Security Directive, which is expected to be adopted by the European Parliament tomorrow, already creates a network of Computer Security Incident Response Teams across the EU in order to rapidly react to cyber threats and incidents. It also establishes a 'Cooperation Group' between Europe's Member States, to support and facilitate cooperation as well as the exchange of information, and to develop trust and confidence. The Commission will propose how to enhance cross-border cooperation in case of a major cyber-incident.