Setting the stage for the Summer School, the first sessions traced the evolution of cyber diplomacy from the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) to today’s newly established Global Mechanism. Looking back at two decades of cyber negotiations and multilateral norm-setting in cyberspace, participants examined how international norms, cooperation and capacity building have developed as well as how the new architecture opens the next chapter for global cyber cooperation and accountability.

With this foundation, discussions turned to the role of international law in cyberspace. Participants explored how established legal principles, including sovereignty, non-intervention and the prohibition of the use of force, apply to cyber operations, reinforcing that cyberspace is not a legal vacuum, but a domain governed by international law.

The conversation broadened beyond individual negotiations to examine the increasingly complex architecture of global cyber governance. From the UN Convention on Cybercrime to regional organisations, multistakeholder initiatives and bilateral partnerships, participants explored why cyber diplomacy today spans multiple forums and how governments can navigate strategically between often fragmented cyber domains and engagements where diplomatic resources are limited and impact is greatest.

The day concluded by connecting these global processes with the European Union’s own cyber diplomacy objectives as a global cyber actor. Participants explored how the EU promotes an open, free, stable and secure cyberspace through international law, engages in multistakeholder cooperation and partnerships worldwide, before exchanging regional perspectives on cyber norms, trust-building and digital security during a peer panel that reflected the diversity of today’s cyber diplomacy community.

• Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eucybernet/albums/72177720334766480/

EU CyberNet Summer School 2026, titled “Cyber Diplomacy: From Norms to Actions – Governing Cyberspace in a Fractured World” is organised by EU CyberNet in partnership with EU Cyber Direct, and Cyber 4.0,with expertise from the European External Action Service, at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy from 29 to 31 July 2026. Summer School 2026 is led by Isabella Brunner (EU CyberNet instructor),  Andrea Calderaro (EU Cyber Direct, European Union Institute for Security Studies – EUISS) and Michal Aendenhof (European Union External Action Service – EEAS) .