Protection of Critical Infrastructure: the European Approach

The atrocities of 11 September 2001 in New York and the Madrid train bombing in 2004 have indicated terrorists' willingness to target infrastructure as well as people. following these events, the European Council asked the European Commission to prepare an overall strategy to protect critical infrastructure within the European Union. As part of this strategy, the European Commission proposed a directive on the identification and designation of European Critical Infrastructure and the assessment of the need to improve their protection. While recognising the threat from terrorism as a priority, we must also recognise that naturally occurring events or accidents can have the same effect: the disruption or destruction of infrastructure. Therefore the protection of critical ifnrastructure will be based on an all-hazards approach.JRC.G.7-Traceability and vulnerability assessmen