The European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) refers to the doctrine and programmes created to identify and protect

critical infrastructure Critical infrastructure (or critical national infrastructure (CNI) in the UK) is a term used by governments to describe assets that are essential for the functioning of a society and economy – the infrastructure. Most commonly associated wi ...

that, in case of fault, incident or attack, could seriously impact both the country where it is hosted and at least one other European Member State.

History

The EPCIP came about as a result of a consultation in 2004 by the European Council, seeking a programme to protect critical infrastructure through its 'Communication on Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Fight against Terrorism'. In December 2004 it endorsed the intention of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

to propose a European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) and agreed to the creation of a European Critical Infrastructure Warning Information Network (CIWIN). In December the European Commission issued its finalised design as a directive EU COM(2006) 786; this obliged all member states to adopt the components of the EPCIP into their national statutes. Not only did it apply to main area of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

but also to the wider

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

. EPCIP also identified National Critical Infrastructure (NCI) where its disruption would only affect a single Member State. It set the responsibility for protecting items of NCI on its owner/operators and on the relevant Member State, and encouraged each Member State to establish its own National CIP programme.

References

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EU COM(2006) 786 EU
Communication from the Commission on a European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection
Council DIR 2008/114/EC
Council Directive 2008/114/EC of 8 December 2008 on the identification and designation of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection Security engineering Infrastructure National security institutions Infrastructure in Europe