The Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Center met live at Bucharest’s HQ for the first time since its launch in 2021. Luxembourg representative Pascal Steichen, CEO of SECURITYMADEIN.LU, chaired the 2-day session.
During this two-day meeting, the Board discussed the priorities of the Center and its practical establishment.
Headquartered in Romania’s capital, the ECCC’s main mission includes funding and coordinating cybersecurity research projects. More broadly, the center aims to support the cybersecurity community in Europe.
A Luxembourg Chair
ECCC’s Governing Board includes representatives from the member states (27 seats), the Commission (2 seats) and the European cybersecurity agency-ENISA (1 permanent observer).
Last February, Pascal Steichen the Luxembourg representative was appointed Chairman by the Governing Board. Katarzyna Prusak-Gorniak, from Poland, was appointed as Vice-Chair.
The European Commission is supporting the center until it fully operates independently. Miguel González Sancho is currently serving as Interim Executive Director of the Center.
Together with the Network of National Coordination Centers, the competence center aims to strengthen European cybersecurity capacities, research excellence and industry competitiveness. It will manage some of the funding dedicated to cybersecurity n the Digital Europe Program and Horizon Europe program, as well as funding from the Member States.
A new call for proposals in the cybersecurity domain under the Digital Europe Program will open on 29 September, for over €140 million. The European Commission just opened a call for tender of €3 million for this purpose.
