On 7 December 2015 the European Parliament announced it had
reached an informal agreement with the European Council on common
rules to strengthen network and information security (NIS), the NIS
Directive.
The absence of EU control and regulation in this area was summed
up by the executive director of the EU's Agency for NIS,
comparing the internet to a virtual "Wild West". The new
NIS directive will set out cybersecurity obligations for
"operators of essential services" and "digital
service providers".
What is the background to the NIS Directive?
Cybersecurity has been on the Commission's agenda since a
2001 NIS Communication (COM(2001)298). In 2013 a Commission
Communication (JOIN(2013)) submitted that for cyberspace to remain
open and free the same fundamental rights, democracy and the rule
of law which are protected offline should also be protected online.
The European Parliament has been pushing hard for EU-wide
cybersecurity rules to end the current
