EU sinks extra €540m on subsea cable security and resilience

• A new action plan will cast a wide net to keep malicious actors at bay
• An enhanced fund will help to pay for increased protection of Europe’s “vital interests”
• A fish-eye lens to focus on prevention, detection, deterrence, repair and sanctions
• Cable diplomacy between EU and “like-minded partners” is key

Further evidence of European reaction to increasing geopolitical tensions can be found in the newly published Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the European Council, which outlines the European Union (EU)’s Action Plan on Cable Security. The policy document describes strategies designed to enhance the safety and protection of the EU’s subsea cable infrastructure (which are quite rightly defined as “vital interests”), via a repeated cyclical policy of prevention, detection, co-ordinated response/deterrence and repair. The action plan also prioritises the increased funding of smart cables.

Submarine communications cables carry 99% of the intercontinental internet and other data traffic between European states and far beyond. Most cables lie in comparatively shallow waters and that insurmountable geographical fact has always made them particularly susceptible to accidental damage. However, with the worsening geopolitical relationships that are the direct result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, concerns are growing that cables could be cut or seriously damaged as part of policies of intimidation, sabotage and disruption by malicious state actors via the “shadow fleet” of ancient and barely seaworthy ships operating under flags of convenience and thus able to evade international sanctions. The recent cable damage incidents in the Baltic Sea, which prompted (seemingly unfounded) allegations of sabotage, show just how sensitive these cables are in the context of the current political situation. 

The action plan will require EU states to improve and enhance co-operation and co-ordination between themselves and “like-minded” partners. The report makes it clear that whilst the protection of critical infrastructure is primarily the task of EU member states, the inherent cross-border nature and wider economic importance of subsea cables are of global significance and their protection will, and must, be of international concern and potential international protective action, hence the fostering of “cable diplomacy” with global partners. Furthermore, the report adds that “due to its clear civil-military implications, this action plan is conceived from the outset as an initiative that will work in full complementarity with ongoing NATO activities.”

Speaking in Helsinki, Finland, Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president in charge of security at the European Commission (EC), said: “We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and detect sabotage to cables but also to actively deter, repair and respond to any threat to critical infrastructure. We know that this is a threat for our security and for our environment, not only in the Baltic Sea area, but all over the European Union.”

The plan accepts that to increase the resilience and security of submarine cables “it will be paramount to further boost EU investment into submarine cable infrastructures, focusing on increasing cable redundancy, as well as security and repair capacities”. A further telling sentence adds: “Efforts are needed to reduce dependencies on non-EU players – including some considered as high-risk vendors by the EU – considering the characteristics of the energy and data cables markets.” No vendors are specifically identified but anyone in the industry will know who they are. 

The EC intends to construct an EU Investment Framework for EU cable infrastructures and, where data communications cables are concerned, says that via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) digital programme, Europe already has an effective funding instrument for submarine communication cable infrastructures. Back in December 2024, 30 new projects were approved and the programme currently manages 51 ongoing initiatives that have been allocated €420m “to reinforce [the EU’s] connectivity backbone and link the EU to partner third countries.” It adds, “thanks to these investments, the commission has enhanced the EU presence in routes to Africa, the Middle East, in central and eastern Europe. In the Atlantic, and in the Nordic region, including the Baltic, €35.6m have been invested in eight specific submarine data cables.”

Furthermore, an additional €540m will be invested between this year and 2027 to fund digital infrastructure projects, including smart subsea cables, prioritising strategic cable projects of European interests. Simultaneously, some funds already budgeted will be reallocated to the development of a new data-sharing surveillance mechanism and a drone programme, as well as ensuring the availability of strategic supplies of spare parts for damaged and severed cables. Part of the budgetary reallocation will also go towards the creation of an emergency reserve fleet “to deploy or repair electric or optical submarine cables”.

Action to deter, prevent, detect and respond to attempted cable damage

The action plan will run concurrently with, and complement, other EU initiatives that already contribute to the security and resilience of submarine cables. These include programmes such as: building further capacity via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) digital and energy funding; anticipating risks; the adoption of cybersecurity risk-management measures and the centralised reporting of significant incidents under the terms of the EC’s Recommendation on Secure and Resilient Submarine Cable Infrastructures; the further development of measures for high common level cybersecurity under the EU’s NIS2 Directive; and the enhancement of the non-cyber physical resilience of critical entities under the terms of the Critical Entities Resilience Directive.

As mentioned, the four key provisions of the action plan are to deter, prevent, detect and respond to cable damage. Prevention means reducing and minimising the “number and impact of disruptive incidents” and to “make it more difficult for any malicious actor to put the security of the union at risk” by enhancing the resilience, security and redundancy of subsea cables and spending more on new cables. Individual member states will be responsible for identifying critical entities, carrying out risk assessments and developing and adopting a resilience strategy. 

Much will depend on the rapid and real-time detection of attempts to sever cables and the implementation of counter-sabotage measures of sufficient strength and aggression to deter malicious actors. The action plan has it that reduced response time and speedier repair of damaged facilities will act as some measure of deterrence while new tools to qualify, prove and formally attribute damage to specific malicious actors will be followed by a new sanctions regime. The plan notes that smart cable systems themselves are able to detect perceived threats and report incidents. With some work, their capabilities could be extended to construct a large geographical sensor networks table to monitor nearby activities, anticipate threats and vulnerabilities, acting as an early warning system to protect the cable.

Furthermore, smart comms cable systems can be put to use as “swarm intelligence” backbones for connecting underwater resources, such as docking stations (for launch, recovery and data transfer) for uncrewed underwater vehicles and systems to perform underwater observation and surveillance, seabed exploration and repair functions.

The lengthy and detailed action plan also covers electrical cables, which are also strategically vital but are already better protected than comms cables because they are armoured during manufacture, making them very strong and better able to withstand attacks.

– Martyn Warwick, Editor in Chief, TelecomTV