The EU’s role in shaping the cyber regime complex

Abstract

As various aspects of cyber-related policies become a priority for national and international stability, an increasing number of actors attempt to shape this policy area. With the EU expanding its international role in foreign and security policy globally – and gradually becoming a target of malicious cyber operations – it becomes critical to consider whether the European Union can play a more active role in shaping global cyber-related policies to effectively protect its citizens in the digital domain. As this article argues, the answer to this question depends on the concurrence of two major elements: the rapid evolution of the international digital environment and associated modes of global governance; and the institutional and policy processes within the European Union that help to deal with the complexity. This article aims to better understand factors influencing the EU’s position within the existing cyber-related regimes and mechanisms deployed by the EU and its member states to shape the policy debates in those venues. It concludes that the EU’s role as a global cyber-player is better understood through the prism of the global cyber regime complex and the strategies that the EU pursues within this complex, rather than by merely examining the effectiveness of its actions within individual regimes (e.g. cybercrime, stability, human rights).