Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – At CyberNext BRU, Brussels Morning Newspaper explored the future of EU-U.S. relationship on handling cyber threats, interviewing former White House staffers and organizers of the event.
On March 5, CyberNext BRU brought together for the second consecutive year experts and stakeholders from the international cybersecurity community. The discussion focused on Europe’s new policy direction in the context of 2025 leadership changes, including the new EU Commission and US presidency.
The event, organized by Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) and Cybersecurity Coalition, was mostly Euro-centred and further policy steps and international cooperation were discussed with EU representatives.
Trump’s recent moves on cybersecurity
President Trump recently suspended offensive cyber operations against Russia and he already cut over 130 jobs at CISA (Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency), the US Agency responsible for cyber protection across all levels of government, one of Trump’s own accomplishments in 2018.
Michael Daniel, President and CEO of Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) and former advisor to President Obama on cybersecurity matters, shared his concerns with Brussels Morning.
“I believe that we should be investing more in cybersecurity. I continually hear from my private sector colleagues of wanting more assistance from the US government to combat cyber threats, not less. I don’t think that reducing resources for an organization like CISA makes sense.”
Similarly, he believes the US shouldn’t take its guard off with Russia, given that Russian cybercrime hasn’t shown signs of declining in twenty years.
Will the EU and the US still be partners?
Just a year ago the United States and the European Union agreed to strengthen their cooperation on cyber resilience. Now, from a possible trade war to divergent views on the war in Ukraine, the relationship is tense.
“I think it’s really clear that, at the very least, the US is not going to be investing as much in working with the European Union going forward,” Ari Schwarz, head of the Cybersecurity Coalition and former member of the White House National Security Council, told Brussels Morning Newspaper. However, he added, there is still room for cooperation on cybersecurity.
Reading into the new administration’s recent moves, Schwarz pointed out that when it comes to threats from China, such as supply chain threats, international cooperation seems to be still on the table for the US. Eventually, the same reasoning will apply to Russian threats too, added Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) President and CEO Daniel.
Despite the action of this administration, over the long run it will be the case that the United States and Europe are partners, both at a governmental level but also at a private sector level.
CTA works closely with several European companies, and their interests aren’t fundamentally diverging, he says.
In the meantime, the EU also proceeds on its own
The NIS2 Directive, an EU Commission initiative to obtain legislative uniformity on cybersecurity among member states is the “number one priority,” said Despina Spanou, Principal Adviser at the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology.
MEP Bart Groothuis from the Renew group also insisted on simplification efforts, and many speakers agreed on the need to reinforce the mandate of ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, through both human and financial resources.
The EU is also moving forwards with the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), a plan to “address the inadequate level of cybersecurity in many products” by 2027.
