European Critical Communication System (EUCCS)

Practical information

• Composition of the study group
• Administrator / Assistant in charge: Alin MITUTA / Maria Grazia RUOCCO
• Contact

Background

The initiative seeks to transform today's fragmented national critical communication infrastructures into a harmonized, resilient, interoperable European system capable of supporting secure cross-border operations, strengthening crisis response capabilities, and reducing strategic technological dependencies.

Member States' communication networks for police, fire brigades, rescue and civil protection still operate as national islands. Equipment cannot be used across borders or shared between agencies of the same Member State, and many countries still run TETRA, TETRAPOL or DMR systems built for voice alone, at a time when operations require video and sensitive data. The result is ad hoc workarounds at the border, exposure of critical infrastructure to jamming, cyberattack and sabotage, and dependence on suppliers outside Europe in a segment that no normal market driver disciplines. Some Member States are migrating to broadband, others are staying narrowband because broadband is costly, and that divergence is widening rather than closing.

The legislative proposal will take the form of a harmonised framework, a System of Systems that leaves national networks in national competence while setting common rules for their interconnection. Among others, it will define the overall objective, geographical scope, participating authorities, EU and Member States' level components (e.g. competencies and responsibilities of the EU and Member States' competent authorities; minimum technical requirements for national systems), standard operating procedures as well as common applications, tools and services.