EU groups urge cybersecurity certification should not discriminate against Big Tech
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In Europe, 26 industry groups warned that a proposed cybersecurity certification scheme, EUCS, for cloud services should not discriminate against Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) Google, Reuters reported.
The European Commission, The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity ENISA and EU countries will get together on Tuesday to discuss the scheme, which has seen many changes since ENISA introduced a draft in 2020, the report added.
The EUCS intends to help governments and companies determine a secure service provider for cloud computing business.
An earlier version, unveiled in March, removed so-called sovereignty requirements from a prior draft, which required the U.S. tech companies to form a joint venture or cooperate with an EU-based company to store and process customer data in the region to qualify for the EU cybersecurity label, the report noted.
The groups said in a joint letter to the EU nations that they believe that an inclusive and non-discriminatory EUCS, which supports free movement of cloud services in Europe, will help members prosper at home and abroad.
“The removal of both ownership controls and Protection against Unlawful Access/Immunity to Non-EU Law, or PUA/INL, requirements ensures that cloud security improvements align with industry best practices and non-discriminatory principles,” the organizations said.
In addition, the groups noted that it was vital that their members have access to a range of resilient cloud technologies made for their specific requirements to grow in a competitive global market.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU in the Czech Republic, Norway, Romania, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Italy, the European Payment Institutions Federation, the Digital Poland Association, Irish business lobby group IBEC, the Netherlands’ NL Digital and the Spanish Start-up Association, Czech Confederation of Industry, Denmark’s Dansk Industry, Germany’s Bundesverband deutscher Banken, were among those which signed the letter.
Cloud service providers in the EU, such as Deutsche Telekom (OTCQX:DTEGY) (OTCQX:DTEGF), Orange (ORAN) (OTCPK:FNCTF) and Airbus have urged for sovereignty requirements in the EUCS amid fears that non-EU governments may get unlawful access to data of Europeans due to their laws, the report added.
