Standing Still Means Falling Behind: MSC hosts Cyber Security Roundtable in Brussels

At the start of the EU’s new legislative term, challenges persist to make the digital decade a success: cyber threats are on the rise, tech supply chains are increasingly weaponized as part of the great power rivalry between the US and China, while artificial intelligence brings new opportunities but also risks to the cyber domain. Against this backdrop, more than 30 experts from government, the tech industry, and think tanks came together to discuss how the EU can guarantee security by regulating new technologies while also maintaining its competitiveness and innovation power.

The first session focused on new developments in the field of AI and their geopolitical implications. Discussants stressed that AI can be both an enabler for good and a threat multiplier. This dual character of the technology explains its potency, but also raises the stakes to get matters of regulation and competitiveness right. Participants agreed that existing EU legislation in the field of AI is sufficient and that the EU’s focus should be on implementing existing regulation and security-proofing it rather than introducing new laws on AI in the future. This requires, in particular, scaling innovative companies and turning them into champions in the European market. However, participants lamented that the EU too often stands in its own way when member states focus too much on their individual gains or pit competitiveness against - rather than with - transatlantic partners. In an age of great power competition where adversaries are increasingly working together to undermine the international order on- and offline, the EU and the US, as well as companies on both sides of the Atlantic, should be leveraging their strengths together rather than turning on each other.  

The second session built on the discussions on AI but linked it to the broader issue of cyber security. Participants highlighted the intensity of the ongoing tech race where revisionist actors increasingly compete for access to data and power over technology infrastructure. They called on EU member states to take the threat seriously and work on protecting intellectual property and critical infrastructure. Participants warned that countries and companies often only move from a mentality where cyber security is a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” after massive external shocks cause significant damage. Once this shift in mentality is achieved, it can take years to build up meaningful cyber defenses. To speed this process up, participants stressed the centrality of public-private-partnerships as companies tend to be more agile and flexible than governments. Overall, participants worried that Europe had already fallen behind in the tech race and that drastic measures are necessary if Europe wants to catch-up.

Following the panels, participants engaged in a dinner discussion focused on the way Ukraine adopts technological innovation and whether this constitutes a revolution in military affairs. The evening was rounded off by a night-cap, co-hosted with the Council on the Future, that looked at specific impediments to European competitiveness and how to regain trust in technological progress. In particular, it became evident that the EU should be clear on the goals it wants to achieve but should be less involved in prescribing the process on how to get there.