The European Union as an international actor in cybersecurity

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of the European Union as an international actor in Cybersecurity. For these purposes, the article assesses, first, the evolution of the external dimension of the European Union Cybersecurity policy, with particularly reference to the 2013 Cybersecurity strategy. Second, the paper studies the emergence and development of the EU Cyber diplomacy. Third, the article examines the novelties related to the role of the EU as an international actor introduced by the 2020 Cybersecurity strategy and subsequent documents such as the 2022 Strategic Compass and Cyber posture. Finally, a number of conclusions are drawned in the last section.