Rapid – Press Releases – EUROPA: “The Commission evaluates the implementation of EU law on attacks against information systems in Member States

Reference: IP/08/1125 Date: 10/07/2008 “

Vice-President Barrot, Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, has welcomed the good level of implementation of Framework Decision 2005/222 in a large majority of the Member States, but at the same time expressed his concern that six Member States have still not presented any implementation measures.

The objective of the Framework Decision is to improve cooperation between judicial and other competent authorities through approximating rules on criminal law in the Member States, mainly regarding illegal access to information systems, illegal system interference and illegal data interference. The report provides a first insight into Member States’ implementation of the Framework Decision and confirms that it has been relatively well implemented in the 20 Member States that have notified national implementation provisions to the Commission.

Member States were under an obligation to provide the Commission with full information on the implementation by 15 March 2007. Malta, Slovakia and Spain have however neither transmitted any information on the implementation nor replied to a reminder sent out by the Commission in 2007. Ireland, Greece and the United Kingdom have notified the Commission that the implementation has yet to be finalised.

“Recent successive criminal attacks against information systems, in particular the massive attacks directed against Estonian information infrastructures in 2007, underline the need for a closer European coordination of responses to such attacks. I call on the Member States that have not given full effect to the Framework Decision to correct this situation as soon as possible”, said Vice-President Barrot.