- FINAL -

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the potential candidate country Georgia, and the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

1. Cybersecurity capacity-building (CCB) has been internationally recognized as an essential aspect of cooperation among states to promote a peaceful and secure cyberspace.

2. CCB can help states foster their understanding of how to address cybersecurity risks at the national level, identify and protect national critical infrastructures and deepen their understanding of how international law applies. Coordination at the national, regional, and international levels can make CCB activities more effective and aligned to national priorities.

3. Similarly, CCB can contribute to rendering cyber norms debates to be more inclusive by fostering the meaningful participation of developing countries in these discussions. In this regard, CCB can contribute to transforming the digital divide into digital opportunities and particularly aim at facilitating the active involvement of developing countries in cyber norms discussions and fora.

4. At the same time, the demand for CCB has grown – both with respect to ad hoc emergency support requests and mid- to long-term structural support needs. Resources for CCB are scarce and interactions with recipient partners are often complex for various reasons such as the character of the internal organisation of partners or the involvement of multiple donors.

5. The EU sees the Program of Action as the primary future instrument to structure CCB initiatives, by coordinating donor efforts and mapping the needs of recipient countries.

6. For the EU CCB is part of a broader partnership approach, and the EU has initiated several dedicated projects for neighbouring countries to support the protection of critical information infrastructure and strengthen incident response capabilities. This has been accelerated by recent developments in the enlargement policy and Russian war in Ukraine.

7. On the African continent, the EU conducts numerous projects with a continental or regional mandate. In addition, the EU is investing heavily in digitalisation in Africa, Asia and Latin America through the Cyber4development project.

8. Finally, the European Union also works with global partners, such as the Global Forum for Cyber Expertise (GFCE), to shape the international agenda for cyber capacity building in line with recognized best practices.

9. The OEWG, while not being itself an operational entity, nor a provider of capacity building still plays an important role in providing awareness, connecting the dots, including bringing together all elements of the UN system. In addition, the OEWG can advance our general understanding on what implementation of for instance norms of responsible behaviour look like as regards capacities to be built.