Digital infrastructures and data centres are central to Europe’s economy, public services and critical operations. They support telecommunications, financial services, healthcare systems, energy management and government functions. Fire incidents or security breaches in these facilities can lead to severe operational, economic and societal impacts. Under the CER framework, operators are expected to implement strong physical protection and business continuity measures. Fire detection, fire suppression, intrusion detection, access control and monitoring systems are essential to safeguarding digital infrastructure and ensuring service availability.
EU actions & requirements
- Data centres, cloud services, internet exchange points, and domain services are in scope of both CER and NIS2.
- Technical guidance and standards developed by ENISA to support implementation of cybersecurity measures.
- Under the Cyber Solidarity Act, enhanced EU-wide cyber threat detection, alerting, and response mechanisms are being established (including cyber hubs and incident response reserves).
- The European Union has stepped up efforts to protect submarine cable networks
Key focus
- Protecting network infrastructure and services critical for economic activity and societal functions.
- Reducing vulnerability to cyber attacks that could disrupt multi-sector dependencies.