The EU’s cybersecurity: a strategic narrative of a cyber power or a confusing policy for a local common market?

  • Agnes Kasper Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
  • Vlad Vernygora University of Lapland, Finland
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-65-2021pp29-71
Keywords: cybersecurity, Strategic Narrative Theory, EU strategic narratives, cyber power Europe, Cyber Maastricht, contemporary empires

Abstract

In the last decade, cybersecurity has swiftly turned into a strategic issue and became an important horizontal policy area in the EU, which is treated in this article as one of the four contemporary political empires. These days, the policy arguably encompasses both internal and external aspects, often making it difficult to assess the level of its actual effectiveness as well as outreach. Initially, the EU’s introverted vision on the issue drove the policy to focus on cyber resilience and strategic autonomy. Evidently, the EU’s strategic narrative that could assist it in leading the process of creating an open, free, stable and secure cyberspace in the digital decade, in the context of international security, is emerging. Thus, this contribution is to test the argument that the EU, utilizing an imperial paradigm (consciously or not), is gradually becoming a global steering power in cybersecurity. In this article, firstly, we identify and examine the process of formation of the EU’s narratives about (its) cyber power. Secondly, we establish a discussion framework to highlight the methodological relevance of the imperial paradigm, cyber power Europe and Strategic Narrative Theory for a multidisciplinary debate on global geo-strategic redesign, in which the EU takes part. Thirdly, we look into bilateral and multilateral forums and processes that deal with cybersecurity and in which the EU participates, in order to understand more specifically how the EU is projecting its cyber-power narratives internationally and how cybersecurity-associated challenges impact current dynamics in other policy domains in the field of international relations.

Recibido: 20 noviembre 2020
Aceptado: 18 mayo 2021

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Author Biographies

Agnes Kasper, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia

Senior Lecturer of Law and Technology in the Department of Law of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). She holds a BA in International Business, MA in Law and Ph.D. in Management, and received formal trainings on technical aspects of cybersecurity and digital evidence. Dr Kasper served at embassies, human rights organisations and she was leading the legal department in an IT consultancy and development company. She has also acted in advisory capacity in consultations with governments on issues relating to cybersecurity, as well as an external expert for the European Commission. Her current research focuses on regulatory aspects of cybersecurity.

Vlad Vernygora, University of Lapland, Finland

Lecturer in International Relations at Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) and DSocSc Candidate at the University of Lapland (Finland). He is an alumnus of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Ukraine) and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). His academic interests include contemporary empires and their strategic narratives, the EU and its policies, Europe’s interactions with the Asia-Pacific, NATO and its global partners, and the Belt and Road Initiative. Vlad holds Tallinn University of Technology’s Teaching Award of 2015 and a short-listed nomination for the 2016 country-wide University Teaching Award in Estonia. From October 2014 until April 2017, Vlad was managing the operational side of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme Project “NATO Global Perceptions – Views from the Asia- Pacific Region”.

Published
2021-09-23
How to Cite
Kasper, Agnes, and Vlad Vernygora. 2021. “The EU’s Cybersecurity: A Strategic Narrative of a Cyber Power or a Confusing Policy for a Local Common Market?”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 65 (September), 29-71. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-65-2021pp29-71.
Issue
No. 65 (2021)
Section
Articles

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