Towards a Baltic Sea Region Strategy in Critical ... - Helsinki.fi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
economy, public health and safety and the effective functioning of the
government.” (EAPC 2003, Annex 1, p. 2) 12
The definition is very wide, based on consensus between members. NATO
emphasizes, however, that the CI does not follow the national confines but that
their disruption or destruction will most probably have cascading effects in
neighbouring countries. International cooperation is therefore needed, but the
responsibility and accountability is to remain with governments.
The need to increase exploratory and definitional work on the problems that
may arise following the attacks on CI has been stated by the SCEPC. NATO
clearly took a coordinative and advisory role in CIP issues among the EAPC
nations and provides a platform for information sharing, threat and vulnerability
assessments and the exchange of best practices on CIP. NATO is also involved in
training and education in ensuring that countries recognize the importance of CIP.
(NATO 2006; for an overview, see Abele-Wigert and Dunn 2006, p. 363ff.)
NATO has no legislative power so the only way to influence the owners and
operators of the CI – mainly the private sector – is by common action plans and
the coordination of national legislative bodies. NATO’s goal is to make all EAPC
countries realize the importance of CIP for their own nations and international
community, and emphasize that CIP is as much as its weakest link.
European Union definition of CI
However, one can argue that the EU had by 2005 taken over the initiative from
NATO to develop a multilateral European approach to CIP. The EU Commission
adopted a similarly broad definition in its first main policy document, “Critical
Infrastructure Protection in the Fight Against Terrorism” in 2004:
“Critical infrastructures consist of those physical and information
technology facilities, networks, services and assets which, if disrupted
or destroyed, would have a serious impact on the health, safety, security
or economic well-being of citizens or the effective functioning of
governments in the member states. Critical infrastructures extend
across many sectors of the economy, including banking and finance,
transport and distribution, energy, utilities, health, food supply and
communications, as well as key government services. Some critical
12 In NATO the main responsible body for the civil emergency planning is SCEPC (Senior Civil
Emergency Planning Committee). All the partners of PfP (Partnership for Peace) and of EAPC
(Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council) can participate in the Committee. SCEPC has eight
subcommittees that are responsible for the emergency planning for different sectors of society.
These committees are FAPC (Food and Agriculture Planning Committee), CAPC (Civil Aviation
Planning Committee), JMC (Joint Medical Committee), PBIST (Planning Board for Inland surface
Transport), PBOS (Planning Board for Ocean Shipping), IPC (Industrial Planning Committee),
CCPC (Civil Communications Planning Committee), CPC (Civil Protection Committee). In
September 2001 EAPC created a working group under the CPC (CPC AHG Civil Protection
Committee ad hoc group) to focus on CIP. Even if CPC is in charge of the NATO CIP action, other
SCEPC working groups and committees participate in it too. CIP is considered a horizontal action
and the interdependencies make cooperation between the different committees necessary. E.g.
FAPC, IPC, CCOC, CAOC emphasize the relevance of CIP for their work. (Abele-Wigert and
Dunn 2006, p. 363ff.)
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