Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS)

The EU and its Institutions

The European Union is a family of 25 democratic European countries, committed to working together peacefully and cooperatively. Its Member States have set up common institutions to which they delegate some of their sovereignty so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at a centralized European level. This pooling of sovereignty continues to move Europe toward greater integration. The idea of European integration grew out of the aftermath of World War II, as a means to prevent future pan-European war. The EU's decision-making comes from the three main EU institutions, which produce policies and laws (in the form of directives, regulations and decisions):

• The Council of the European Union (which represents the governments of the 25 Member States);
• The European Parliament (which represents the EU's individual citizens); and
• The European Commission (which upholds the interests of the EU as a whole).

The Council of the European Union—formerly known as the Council of Ministers—serves as the EU's main legislative and decision-making body. Every Council meeting is attended by one minister from each of the Member States. The minister who attends, e.g., the Minister of Justice or the Minister of Agriculture, is determined by the topic of the particular Council meeting. Each minister in the Council is empowered to commit his or her government; therefore, the minister's signature represents the signature of the whole government. The European Parliament, which consists of representatives elected directly by the citizens of EU Member States, works in cooperation with the Council to oversee the legislative process. It supervises the Commission and has the power to approve or reject the nomination of Commissioners. It shares with the Council authority over the EU budget and therefore influences EU spending. The European Commission, the centralized "executive body" of the EU, drafts new laws and proposes them to the European Parliament and the Council. The Commission also ensures that EU decisions are properly implemented, supervises EU spending, and ensures that all Member States comply with EU treaties and EU law. The Commission represents the EU on the international stage, for example by negotiating agreements between the EU and third countries.

Both the European Commission and the Council of the European Union have taken up work to combat cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism and enhance cross-border law enforcement cooperation in these areas. In January 2001, the Commission adopted a Communication on "Creating a Safer Information Society by Improving the Security of Information Infrastructures and Combating Computer-related Crime." The Communication emphasized that a comprehensive policy program to fight cybercrime should pre-suppose at least the following four key conditions: (1) The adoption of adequate, substantive, and procedural legislative provisions to deal with both domestic and transnational criminal activities; (2) The availability of a sufficient number of well-trained and well-equipped law enforcement personnel; ; (3) The improvement of the cooperation between all stakeholders, users and consumers, industry, and law enforcement; and (4) The need for ongoing industry and community-led initiatives.

In October 2004, the Commission issued a Communication on "Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Fight against Terrorism" that gives an overview of the actions that the Commission is taking with regard to protection of critical infrastructures and proposes additional measures to strengthen existing instruments and to meet Council mandates in this area.

In February 2005, the EU adopted a Council Framework Decision on Attacks Against Information Systems. This decision, binding on all Member States, seeks to harmonize cybercrime laws by describing specific kinds of conduct that should be criminalized by individual legislatures.

The Commission has established the EU Forum on Cybercrime, which brings together law enforcement agencies, service providers, network operators, consumer groups, data protection authorities, civil liberties organizations, and other interested parties with the aim of increasing mutual understanding and cooperation at the EU level. The EU Forum seeks, inter alia, to raise public awareness of the risks posed by criminals on the Internet, promote best practices for security, identify effective counter-crime tools and procedures to combat computer-related crime, and encourage further development of early warning and crisis management mechanisms

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