European Parliament Vice President: Cybersecurity is no longer a subject for experts only

Cybersecurity must be treated as a strategic priority at European level, not just as a technical topic reserved for specialists, Victor Negrescu, Vice President of the European Parliament, said yesterday at the Bucharest Cybersecurity Conference (BCC2025). According to the MEP, almost 40% of cyberattacks in Europe target public institutions, and 60% affect critical infrastructures, which shows the scale and seriousness of the phenomenon. "Cybersecurity is interconnected with the resilience of our societies and with the resilience of democracies. We observed this during the elections in the Republic of Moldova and Romania. We can no longer view cybersecurity as an isolated subject. It must be integrated into all European policies,” said Victor Negrescu.

• Need for a new European framework for digital security

The European official stressed that the European Union must reconfigure its cybersecurity architecture so that digitalization, technological transformation and infrastructure protection are developed together. "We need a new European framework, which rethinks the way we implement digitalization and cyber protection mechanisms. We need to make sure that the European ecosystem works, invest in training people and support innovation, because hackers innovate. Countries that interfere in our societies are already using artificial intelligence. We need to be one step ahead,” said Negrescu. The Vice-President of the European Parliament insisted on professional training not only for experts, but also for staff who work daily with data and digital tools, as well as on supporting innovative companies in the field of cybersecurity.

• Artificial Intelligence - challenge and opportunity

Negrescu mentioned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will significantly transform the way in which cyber threats are managed, and the European Union must be prepared for this change. "Artificial Intelligence will change many things, and we must be prepared. We must constantly innovate, always be at the forefront, to counter new forms of attack and digital interference,” the Romanian MEP emphasized. Negrescu drew attention to the financial dimension of digital protection, emphasizing that the current European budget is insufficient for the scale of the threats: "A good plan needs money. Cybersecurity costs a lot and we need to explain to citizens why. Digital data and infrastructures are vital. Through the European Competence Center we have one billion allocated, to which are added funds from the Digital Europe and Rising Europe programs, but these resources are not enough.”

The EP Vice-President stressed that Romania can play a key role in defining the future multiannual financial framework 2027-2034, in particular by promoting funding for cybersecurity. "Most of the funds will be in the Competitiveness Fund. The European cybersecurity community must indicate the directions and amounts needed. Romania, as a country with expertise in the field, should lobby both in Brussels and Bucharest to support more resources for this sector,” said Negrescu.

• Lack of security standards in national projects

The MEP criticized the fact that, in Romania, digital projects financed through European funds did not have clear cybersecurity components. "We invested a lot through the Recovery Plan in digitalization, but we have not seen the authorities publish clear security standards for these investments. For example, many city halls have digitized their tax systems without coordination between infrastructures,” noted Negrescu.

The Bucharest Cyber Security Conference (BCC2025) runs from October 1 to 9, and is organized by the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC), with the support of the National Coordination Center of Romania (NCC-RO) and the National Association for Information Systems Security (ANSSI). The event brings together European officials, digital security experts and industry representatives to discuss new cyber defense strategies at European level.