Bloomberg: EU to boost protection of infrastructure as sabotage fears grow

The European Union will step up efforts to protect critical infrastructure from acts of sabotage, which in recent weeks have highlighted the bloc’s vulnerability.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will recommend this week that member states boost cooperation and stress test key infrastructure, starting with energy and followed by other high-risk sectors such as communications, transport and space, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg News. The bloc will also create a “blueprint” mapping out how it will respond to future crises.

The EU’s vulnerabilities came into sharp focus last month when the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines suffered four major gas leaks as the result of suspected attacks. Rail traffic in northern Germany was also halted for several hours after radio cables were severed, while an oil leak in Poland’s Druzhba pipeline gave rise to further fears of sabotage, before officials deemed it was probably an accident.

“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has brought a new set of threats, often combined as a hybrid attack,” according to the document, which is still subject to change, highlighting the risk to infrastructure. “This has become blatantly obvious with the apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.”

The measures come as the EU rushes to cut its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, with the Commission set to propose the latest round of regulations to mitigate soaring gas prices this week. There is a risk Russia could take retaliatory action aimed at undermining that transition.

In a separate action plan to digitalize the energy system, the Commission will also identify where it faces cybersecurity risks, which have grown as the electricity grid becomes more decentralized amid the rollout of renewables. The bloc aims to propose legislation addressing such risks in gas and hydrogen networks from next year, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.