The event was driven by the new EU Cybersecurity Strategy that will guide the EU’s activities in the new Digital Decade, and was presented on 16 December 2020 by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss with the project implementers what is new in the strategy and which are the main strategic initiatives, and the role of the EU-financed projects in promoting the objectives of the strategy.

The comprehensive strategy covers all the key components, from NIS 2.0 to IoT and strengthening the EU’s cyberdiplomacy activities, providing opportunities for EU funded projects to contribute to the coordination effort and amplifying EU’s messages. A separate section was dedicated to external cyber capacity building action, with emphasis on jump-start of the EU Cyber Capacity Building Board to facilitate cooperation and establish the External Cyber Capacity Building Agenda to help to guide the joint EU’s work.

The European External Action Service provided an update on the recent developments in the international arena regarding the developments in the UN 1^st and 3rd Committee and related discussions in regional organisations.