December 16th, 2024 – Two EU-funded Horizon Europe projects, SUNRISE and ATLANTIS, have joined forces to release a transformative policy brief addressing the growing challenges of Europe’s Critical Infrastructures (CI). Titled “Enhancing Resilience of Critical Infrastructures in Europe: Insights and Recommendations” the policy brief outlines actionable findings to bolster CI resilience amid the identified emerging risks.
Commenting on the significance of the ATLANTIS-SUNRISE Policy Brief, ATLANTIS project coordinator, Gabriele Giunta, said:
“I’m honoured to be part of this team of motivated experts and professionals who devoted their expertise to create a unified Policy Brief. This is an important contribution towards strengthening CI’s resilience in all sectors and all-across Europe. I really hope our initiative is a driver towards a smooth implementation of EU policy-related actions.”
Critical Infrastructure: The Backbone of a Secure Europe
From pandemics and cyber threats to climate-induced disasters and geopolitical instability, Europe’s CI faces an unprecedented array of challenges. These risks extend beyond urban centres to encompass diverse environments, including underwater regions and outer space, requiring a comprehensive and unified approach. Systemic threats are increasing in both scale and complexity, making timely, adaptive, and collaborative actions critical to improving resilience. The ATLANTIS and SUNRISE Joint Police Brief provides a set of actionable recommendations for the EU to lead in securing a resilient future for its citizens and infrastructures.
Outlining the significance of the ATLANTIS-SUNRISE Policy Brief, SUNRISE project coordinator, Aljosa Pasic, said:
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed significant impacts not only on healthcare systems but also on other European Critical Infrastructures (CIs), driven by workforce shortages, interdependencies, supply chain disruptions, and the need for rapid adaptation. The SUNRISE project tackles these challenges by addressing CI resilience before and during operational disruptions. Its policy task force bridges project outcomes, pilot initiatives, and EU policymaking, exemplified by the joint ATLANTIS-SUNRISE Policy Brief. This ensures that future regulations and initiatives effectively incorporate the project’s key findings.”
Key Findings
The policy brief presents insights from the collaborative efforts of ATLANTIS and SUNRISE, under the following themes:
- Collaboration across boundaries: Building resilience requires coordination across industries, organizations, and governments to mitigate vulnerabilities and enhance response mechanisms.
- Alignment with EU Policies: Adhering to EU frameworks such as the CER (Critical Entities Resilience) and NIS2 (Network and Information Security) Directives is vital to achieving robust preparedness and protection.
- Scenario-Based Planning: Innovative planning based on cascading and interconnected risk scenarios ensures readiness for complex challenges.
- Data-Augmented Decision Support Systems: The integration of real-time data and AI-driven Decision Support Systems strengthens situational awareness and resource optimization for crisis management.
One of the ATLANTIS-SUNRISE Policy Brief’s authors, Jolanda Modic from the Institute for Corporative Security Studies in Slovenia, said:
“This document serves as a critical roadmap for enhancing the resilience of Europe’s CI against an increasingly complex landscape of threats and hazards. By integrating insights from the EU-funded projects SUNRISE and ATLANTIS, it provides actionable recommendations to address vulnerabilities, foster collaboration, and align with EU policies. Strengthening CI resilience is not just about safeguarding services. It is about ensuring societal stability, economic continuity, and a sustainable, secure future for Europe.”
ENDS
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Maria Carolan, Carr Communications Ltd: mcarolan@carrcommunications.ie / +353 879207153
Notes to Editor
The SUNRISE Project
The SUNRISE project consortium is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and is made up of 41 European leaders and experts from the health, security, social science, humanities, information technology, epidemiology, communications and emergency management fields, ensuring that the most modern science and research serve the real-world needs of healthcare, government and society. SUNRISE is being led by Eviden.
The ATLANTIS Project
The mission of ATLANTIS, which involves 38 European partners with complementary roles and skills, is to improve the resilience and the protection capabilities of interconnected ECI exposed to evolving systemic risks due to existing and emerging large-scale, combined, cyber-physical threats and hazards, guarantee the continuity of operations, while minimizing cascading effects in the infrastructure itself, the environment, other CIs, and the involved population, enabling public and private actors to meet current and emerging challenges by adopting sustainable security solutions. ATLANTIS is being led by Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A.
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth. The programme facilitates collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports creating and better dispersing of excellent knowledge and technologies.
SUNRISE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework programme under grant agreement no. 101073821.
ATLANTIS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework programme under grant agreement No.101073909.
