Vote on EU cybersecurity label delayed to May, sources say


FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 1, 2023.REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - National cybersecurity experts have shelved a vote on a draft EU cybersecurity label allowing Amazon, Alphabet's Google and Microsoft to bid for highly sensitive EU cloud computing contracts to May, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The European Union wants to introduce a cybersecurity certification scheme (EUCS) to vouch for the cybersecurity of cloud services and help governments and companies pick a secure and trusted vendor for their cloud computing business.

However, disagreements on whether strict requirements should be imposed on Big Tech to qualify for the highest level of the EU cybersecurity label has hampered efforts.

The experts which met on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, did not vote on the latest draft of the scheme proposed by EU cybersecurity agency ENISA in 2020 and tweaked by Belgium which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, the people said.

After the experts' vote, the next step is an opinion from EU countries and the final decision by the European Commission.

The latest version scrapped so-called sovereignty requirements from a previous proposal, which obliged U.S. tech giants to set up a joint venture or cooperate with an EU-based company to store and process customer data in the bloc in order to qualify for the highest level of the EU cybersecurity label.

While Big Tech welcomed dropping the requirements, EU cloud vendors and businesses such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Airbus criticised the move, and warned of the risk of unlawful data access by non-EU governments on the basis of their laws.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

   

Next In Tech News

Opinion: In sunny Tahoe, a hollow-eyed tech billionaire pretends to be normal
An Apple AI blunder messed up headline summaries so badly some want the feature pulled
Google proposes altering contracts to correct illegal search monopoly
As elder fraud explodes, banks in the US beat back duty to call cops
Many Americans have come to rely on Chinese-made drones. Now lawmakers want to ban them
Apple seeks to defend Google's billion-dollar payments in search case
Iran lifts ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, state media says
India's push for home-grown satellite constellation gets 30 aspirants
Google Search has a surprise in store for 'Squid Game' fans
Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami

Others Also Read