NIS2 Directive

This Directive lays down measures that aim to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity across the Union, with a view to improving the functioning of the internal market.

To that end, this Directive lays down:

This Directive applies to public or private entities of a type referred to in Annex I or II which qualify as medium-sized enterprises under Article 2 of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC, or exceed the ceilings for medium-sized enterprises provided for in paragraph 1 of that Article, and which provide their services or carry out their activities within the Union.

Regardless of their size, this Directive also applies to entities of a type referred to in Annex I or II, where:

Regardless of their size, this Directive applies to entities identified as critical entities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557.

Regardless of their size, this Directive applies to entities providing domain name registration services.

Member States may provide for this Directive to apply to:

This Directive is without prejudice to the Member States’ responsibility for safeguarding national security and their power to safeguard other essential State functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the State and maintaining law and order.

This Directive does not apply to public administration entities that carry out their activities in the areas of national security, public security, defence or law enforcement, including the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences.

Member States may exempt specific entities which carry out activities in the areas of national security, public security, defence or law enforcement, including the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences, or which provide services exclusively to the public administration entities referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article, from the obligations laid down in Article 21 or 23 with regard to those activities or services. In such cases, the supervisory and enforcement measures referred to in Chapter VII shall not apply in relation to those specific activities or services. Where the entities carry out activities or provide services exclusively of the type referred to in this paragraph, Member States may decide also to exempt those entities from the obligations laid down in Articles 3 and 27.

Paragraphs 7 and 8 shall not apply where an entity acts as a trust service provider.

This Directive does not apply to entities which Member States have exempted from the scope of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 in accordance with Article 2(4) of that Regulation.

The obligations laid down in this Directive shall not entail the supply of information the disclosure of which would be contrary to the essential interests of Member States’ national security, public security or defence.

This Directive applies without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Directive 2002/58/EC, Directives 2011/93/EU (27) and 2013/40/EU (28) of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive (EU) 2022/2557.

Without prejudice to Article 346 TFEU, information that is confidential pursuant to Union or national rules, such as rules on business confidentiality, shall be exchanged with the Commission and other relevant authorities in accordance with this Directive only where that exchange is necessary for the application of this Directive. The information exchanged shall be limited to that which is relevant and proportionate to the purpose of that exchange. The exchange of information shall preserve the confidentiality of that information and protect the security and commercial interests of entities concerned.

Entities, the competent authorities, the single points of contact and the CSIRTs shall process personal data to the extent necessary for the purposes of this Directive and in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, in particular such processing shall rely on Article 6 thereof.

For the purposes of this Directive, the following entities shall be considered to be essential entities:

For the purposes of this Directive, entities of a type referred to in Annex I or II which do not qualify as essential entities pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall be considered to be important entities. This includes entities identified by Member States as important entities pursuant to Article 2(2), points (b) to (e).

By 17 April 2025, Member States shall establish a list of essential and important entities as well as entities providing domain name registration services. Member States shall review and, where appropriate, update that list on a regular basis and at least every two years thereafter.

For the purpose of establishing the list referred to in paragraph 3, Member States shall require the entities referred to in that paragraph to submit at least the following information to the competent authorities:

By 17 April 2025 and every two years thereafter, the competent authorities shall notify:

Until 17 April 2025 and upon request of the Commission, Member States may notify the Commission of the names of the essential and important entities referred to in paragraph 5, point (b).

Where sector-specific Union legal acts require essential or important entities to adopt cybersecurity risk-management measures or to notify significant incidents and where those requirements are at least equivalent in effect to the obligations laid down in this Directive, the relevant provisions of this Directive, including the provisions on supervision and enforcement laid down in Chapter VII, shall not apply to such entities. Where sector-specific Union legal acts do not cover all entities in a specific sector falling within the scope of this Directive, the relevant provisions of this Directive shall continue to apply to the entities not covered by those sector-specific Union legal acts.

The requirements referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be considered to be equivalent in effect to the obligations laid down in this Directive where:

The Commission shall, by 17 July 2023, provide guidelines clarifying the application of paragraphs 1 and 2. The Commission shall review those guidelines on a regular basis. When preparing those guidelines, the Commission shall take into account any observations of the Cooperation Group and ENISA.

‘network and information system’ means:

‘security of network and information systems’ means the ability of network and information systems to resist, at a given level of confidence, any event that may compromise the availability, authenticity, integrity or confidentiality of stored, transmitted or processed data or of the services offered by, or accessible via, those network and information systems;

‘cybersecurity’ means cybersecurity as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Regulation (EU) 2019/881;

‘national cybersecurity strategy ’ means a coherent framework of a Member State providing strategic objectives and priorities in the area of cybersecurity and the governance to achieve them in that Member State;

‘near miss’ means an event that could have compromised the availability, authenticity, integrity or confidentiality of stored, transmitted or processed data or of the services offered by, or accessible via, network and information systems, but that was successfully prevented from materialising or that did not materialise;

‘incident’ means an event compromising the availability, authenticity, integrity or confidentiality of stored, transmitted or processed data or of the services offered by, or accessible via, network and information systems;

‘large-scale cybersecurity incident’ means an incident which causes a level of disruption that exceeds a Member State’s capacity to respond to it or which has a significant impact on at least two Member States;

‘incident handling’ means any actions and procedures aiming to prevent, detect, analyse, and contain or to respond to and recover from an incident;

‘risk’ means the potential for loss or disruption caused by an incident and is to be expressed as a combination of the magnitude of such loss or disruption and the likelihood of occurrence of the incident;

‘cyber threat’ means a cyber threat as defined in Article 2, point (8), of Regulation (EU) 2019/881;

‘significant cyber threat’ means a cyber threat which, based on its technical characteristics, can be assumed to have the potential to have a severe impact on the network and information systems of an entity or the users of the entity’s services by causing considerable material or non-material damage;

‘ICT product’ means an ICT product as defined in Article 2, point (12), of Regulation (EU) 2019/881;

‘ICT service’ means an ICT service as defined in Article 2, point (13), of Regulation (EU) 2019/881;

‘ICT process’ means an ICT process as defined in Article 2, point (14), of Regulation (EU) 2019/881;

‘vulnerability’ means a weakness, susceptibility or flaw of ICT products or ICT services that can be exploited by a cyber threat;

‘standard’ means a standard as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (29);

‘technical specification’ means a technical specification as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;

‘internet exchange point’ means a network facility which enables the interconnection of more than two independent networks (autonomous systems), primarily for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of internet traffic, which provides interconnection only for autonomous systems and which neither requires the internet traffic passing between any pair of participating autonomous systems to pass through any third autonomous system nor alters or otherwise interferes with such traffic;

‘domain name system’ or ‘DNS’ means a hierarchical distributed naming system which enables the identification of internet services and resources, allowing end-user devices to use internet routing and connectivity services to reach those services and resources;

‘DNS service provider’ means an entity that provides:

‘top-level domain name registry’ or ‘TLD name registry’ means an entity which has been delegated a specific TLD and is responsible for administering the TLD including the registration of domain names under the TLD and the technical operation of the TLD, including the operation of its name servers, the maintenance of its databases and the distribution of TLD zone files across name servers, irrespective of whether any of those operations are carried out by the entity itself or are outsourced, but excluding situations where TLD names are used by a registry only for its own use;

‘entity providing domain name registration services’ means a registrar or an agent acting on behalf of registrars, such as a privacy or proxy registration service provider or reseller;

‘digital service’ means a service as defined in Article 1(1), point (b), of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council (30);

‘trust service’ means a trust service as defined in Article 3, point (16), of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014;

‘trust service provider’ means a trust service provider as defined in Article 3, point (19), of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014;

‘qualified trust service’ means a qualified trust service as defined in Article 3, point (17), of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014;

‘qualified trust service provider’ means a qualified trust service provider as defined in Article 3, point (20), of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014;

‘online marketplace’ means an online marketplace as defined in Article 2, point (n), of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (31);

‘online search engine’ means an online search engine as defined in Article 2, point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council (32);

‘cloud computing service’ means a digital service that enables on-demand administration and broad remote access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable computing resources, including where such resources are distributed across several locations;

‘data centre service’ means a service that encompasses structures, or groups of structures, dedicated to the centralised accommodation, interconnection and operation of IT and network equipment providing data storage, processing and transport services together with all the facilities and infrastructures for power distribution and environmental control;

‘content delivery network’ means a network of geographically distributed servers for the purpose of ensuring high availability, accessibility or fast delivery of digital content and services to internet users on behalf of content and service providers;

‘social networking services platform’ means a platform that enables end-users to connect, share, discover and communicate with each other across multiple devices, in particular via chats, posts, videos and recommendations;

‘representative’ means a natural or legal person established in the Union explicitly designated to act on behalf of a DNS service provider, a TLD name registry, an entity providing domain name registration services, a cloud computing service provider, a data centre service provider, a content delivery network provider, a managed service provider, a managed security service provider, or a provider of an online marketplace, of an online search engine or of a social networking services platform that is not established in the Union, which may be addressed by a competent authority or a CSIRT in the place of the entity itself with regard to the obligations of that entity under this Directive;

‘public administration entity’ means an entity recognised as such in a Member State in accordance with national law, not including the judiciary, parliaments or central banks, which complies with the following criteria:

‘public electronic communications network’ means a public electronic communications network as defined in Article 2, point (8), of Directive (EU) 2018/1972;

‘electronic communications service’ means an electronic communications service as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Directive (EU) 2018/1972;

‘entity’ means a natural or legal person created and recognised as such under the national law of its place of establishment, which may, acting under its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations;

‘managed service provider’ means an entity that provides services related to the installation, management, operation or maintenance of ICT products, networks, infrastructure, applications or any other network and information systems, via assistance or active administration carried out either on customers’ premises or remotely;

‘managed security service provider’ means a managed service provider that carries out or provides assistance for activities relating to cybersecurity risk management;

‘research organisation’ means an entity which has as its primary goal to conduct applied research or experimental development with a view to exploiting the results of that research for commercial purposes, but which does not include educational institutions.

Each Member State shall adopt a national cybersecurity strategy that provides for the strategic objectives, the resources required to achieve those objectives, and appropriate policy and regulatory measures, with a view to achieving and maintaining a high level of cybersecurity. The national cybersecurity strategy shall include:

As part of the national cybersecurity strategy, Member States shall in particular adopt policies:

Member States shall notify their national cybersecurity strategies to the Commission within three months of their adoption. Member States may exclude information which relates to their national security from such notifications.

Member States shall assess their national cybersecurity strategies on a regular basis and at least every five years on the basis of key performance indicators and, where necessary, update them. ENISA shall assist Member States, upon their request, in the development or the update of a national cybersecurity strategy and of key performance indicators for the assessment of that strategy, in order to align it with the requirements and obligations laid down in this Directive.

Each Member State shall designate or establish one or more competent authorities responsible for cybersecurity and for the supervisory tasks referred to in Chapter VII (competent authorities).

The competent authorities referred to in paragraph 1 shall monitor the implementation of this Directive at national level.

Each Member State shall designate or establish a single point of contact. Where a Member State designates or establishes only one competent authority pursuant to paragraph 1, that competent authority shall also be the single point of contact for that Member State.

Each single point of contact shall exercise a liaison function to ensure cross-border cooperation of its Member State’s authorities with the relevant authorities of other Member States, and, where appropriate, with the Commission and ENISA, as well as to ensure cross-sectoral cooperation with other competent authorities within its Member State.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities and single points of contact have adequate resources to carry out, in an effective and efficient manner, the tasks assigned to them and thereby to fulfil the objectives of this Directive.

Each Member State shall notify the Commission without undue delay of the identity of the competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 and of the single point of contact referred to in paragraph 3, of the tasks of those authorities, and of any subsequent changes thereto. Each Member State shall make public the identity of its competent authority. The Commission shall make a list of the single points of contact publicly available.

Each Member State shall designate or establish one or more competent authorities responsible for the management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and crises (cyber crisis management authorities). Member States shall ensure that those authorities have adequate resources to carry out, in an effective and efficient manner, the tasks assigned to them. Member States shall ensure coherence with the existing frameworks for general national crisis management.

Where a Member State designates or establishes more than one cyber crisis management authority pursuant to paragraph 1, it shall clearly indicate which of those authorities is to serve as the coordinator for the management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and crises.

Each Member State shall identify capabilities, assets and procedures that can be deployed in the case of a crisis for the purposes of this Directive.

Each Member State shall adopt a national large-scale cybersecurity incident and crisis response plan where the objectives of and arrangements for the management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and crises are set out. That plan shall lay down, in particular:

Within three months of the designation or establishment of the cyber crisis management authority referred to in paragraph 1, each Member State shall notify the Commission of the identity of its authority and of any subsequent changes thereto. Member States shall submit to the Commission and to the European cyber crisis liaison organisation network (EU-CyCLONe) relevant information relating to the requirements of paragraph 4 about their national large-scale cybersecurity incident and crisis response plans within three months of the adoption of those plans. Member States may exclude information where and to the extent that such exclusion is necessary for their national security.

Each Member State shall designate or establish one or more CSIRTs. The CSIRTs may be designated or established within a competent authority. The CSIRTs shall comply with the requirements set out in Article 11(1), shall cover at least the sectors, subsectors and types of entity referred to in Annexes I and II, and shall be responsible for incident handling in accordance with a well-defined process.

Member States shall ensure that each CSIRT has adequate resources to carry out effectively its tasks as set out in Article 11(3).

Member States shall ensure that each CSIRT has at its disposal an appropriate, secure, and resilient communication and information infrastructure through which to exchange information with essential and important entities and other relevant stakeholders. To that end, Member States shall ensure that each CSIRT contributes to the deployment of secure information-sharing tools.

The CSIRTs shall cooperate and, where appropriate, exchange relevant information in accordance with Article 29 with sectoral or cross-sectoral communities of essential and important entities.

The CSIRTs shall participate in peer reviews organised in accordance with Article 19.

Member States shall ensure the effective, efficient and secure cooperation of their CSIRTs in the CSIRTs network.

The CSIRTs may establish cooperation relationships with third countries’ national computer security incident response teams. As part of such cooperation relationships, Member States shall facilitate effective, efficient and secure information exchange with those third countries’ national computer security incident response teams, using relevant information-sharing protocols, including the traffic light protocol. The CSIRTs may exchange relevant information with third countries’ national computer security incident response teams, including personal data in accordance with Union data protection law.

The CSIRTs may cooperate with third countries’ national computer security incident response teams or equivalent third-country bodies, in particular for the purpose of providing them with cybersecurity assistance.

Each Member State shall notify the Commission without undue delay of the identity of the CSIRT referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and the CSIRT designated as coordinator pursuant to Article 12(1), of their respective tasks in relation to essential and important entities, and of any subsequent changes thereto.

Member States may request the assistance of ENISA in developing their CSIRTs.

The CSIRTs shall comply with the following requirements:

Member States shall ensure that their CSIRTs jointly have the technical capabilities necessary to carry out the tasks referred to in paragraph 3. Member States shall ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to their CSIRTs to ensure adequate staffing levels for the purpose of enabling the CSIRTs to develop their technical capabilities.

The CSIRTs shall have the following tasks:

The CSIRTs shall establish cooperation relationships with relevant stakeholders in the private sector, with a view to achieving the objectives of this Directive.

In order to facilitate cooperation referred to in paragraph 4, the CSIRTs shall promote the adoption and use of common or standardised practices, classification schemes and taxonomies in relation to:

Each Member State shall designate one of its CSIRTs as a coordinator for the purposes of coordinated vulnerability disclosure. The CSIRT designated as coordinator shall act as a trusted intermediary, facilitating, where necessary, the interaction between the natural or legal person reporting a vulnerability and the manufacturer or provider of the potentially vulnerable ICT products or ICT services, upon the request of either party. The tasks of the CSIRT designated as coordinator shall include:

ENISA shall develop and maintain, after consulting the Cooperation Group, a European vulnerability database. To that end, ENISA shall establish and maintain the appropriate information systems, policies and procedures, and shall adopt the necessary technical and organisational measures to ensure the security and integrity of the European vulnerability database, with a view in particular to enabling entities, regardless of whether they fall within the scope of this Directive, and their suppliers of network and information systems, to disclose and register, on a voluntary basis, publicly known vulnerabilities in ICT products or ICT services. All stakeholders shall be provided access to the information about the vulnerabilities contained in the European vulnerability database. That database shall include:

Where they are separate, the competent authorities, the single point of contact and the CSIRTs of the same Member State shall cooperate with each other with regard to the fulfilment of the obligations laid down in this Directive.

Member States shall ensure that their CSIRTs or, where applicable, their competent authorities, receive notifications of significant incidents pursuant to Article 23, and incidents, cyber threats and near misses pursuant to Article 30.

Member States shall ensure that their CSIRTs or, where applicable, their competent authorities inform their single points of contact of notifications of incidents, cyber threats and near misses submitted pursuant to this Directive.

In order to ensure that the tasks and obligations of the competent authorities, the single points of contact and the CSIRTs are carried out effectively, Member States shall, to the extent possible, ensure appropriate cooperation between those bodies and law enforcement authorities, data protection authorities, the national authorities under Regulations (EC) No 300/2008 and (EU) 2018/1139, the supervisory bodies under Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, the competent authorities under Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, the national regulatory authorities under Directive (EU) 2018/1972, the competent authorities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557, as well as the competent authorities under other sector-specific Union legal acts, within that Member State.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive and their competent authorities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 cooperate and exchange information on a regular basis with regard to the identification of critical entities, on risks, cyber threats, and incidents as well as on non-cyber risks, threats and incidents affecting entities identified as critical entities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557, and the measures taken in response to such risks, threats and incidents. Member States shall also ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive and their competent authorities under Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 and Directive (EU) 2018/1972 exchange relevant information on a regular basis, including with regard to relevant incidents and cyber threats.

Member States shall simplify the reporting through technical means for notifications referred to in Articles 23 and 30.

In order to support and facilitate strategic cooperation and the exchange of information among Member States, as well as to strengthen trust and confidence, a Cooperation Group is established.

The Cooperation Group shall carry out its tasks on the basis of biennial work programmes referred to in paragraph 7.

The Cooperation Group shall be composed of representatives of Member States, the Commission and ENISA. The European External Action Service shall participate in the activities of the Cooperation Group as an observer. The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and the competent authorities under Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 may participate in the activities of the Cooperation Group in accordance with Article 47(1) of that Regulation.

The Cooperation Group shall have the following tasks:

Member States shall ensure effective, efficient and secure cooperation of their representatives in the Cooperation Group.

The Cooperation Group may request from the CSIRTs network a technical report on selected topics.

By 1 February 2024 and every two years thereafter, the Cooperation Group shall establish a work programme in respect of actions to be undertaken to implement its objectives and tasks.

The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down procedural arrangements necessary for the functioning of the Cooperation Group.

The Cooperation Group shall meet on a regular basis and in any event at least once a year with the Critical Entities Resilience Group established under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 to promote and facilitate strategic cooperation and the exchange of information.

In order to contribute to the development of confidence and trust and to promote swift and effective operational cooperation among Member States, a network of national CSIRTs is established.

The CSIRTs network shall be composed of representatives of the CSIRTs designated or established pursuant to Article 10 and the computer emergency response team for the Union’s institutions, bodies and agencies (CERT-EU). The Commission shall participate in the CSIRTs network as an observer. ENISA shall provide the secretariat and shall actively provide assistance for the cooperation among the CSIRTs.

The CSIRTs network shall have the following tasks:

By 17 January 2025, and every two years thereafter, the CSIRTs network shall, for the purpose of the review referred to in Article 40, assess the progress made with regard to the operational cooperation and adopt a report. The report shall, in particular, draw up conclusions and recommendations on the basis of the outcome of the peer reviews referred to in Article 19, which are carried out in relation to the national CSIRTs. That report shall be submitted to the Cooperation Group.

The CSIRTs network shall adopt its rules of procedure.

The CSIRTs network and EU-CyCLONe shall agree on procedural arrangements and cooperate on the basis thereof.

EU-CyCLONe is established to support the coordinated management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and crises at operational level and to ensure the regular exchange of relevant information among Member States and Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.

EU-CyCLONe shall be composed of the representatives of Member States’ cyber crisis management authorities as well as, in cases where a potential or ongoing large-scale cybersecurity incident has or is likely to have a significant impact on services and activities falling within the scope of this Directive, the Commission. In other cases, the Commission shall participate in the activities of EU-CyCLONe as an observer.

EU-CyCLONe shall have the following tasks:

EU-CyCLONe shall adopt its rules of procedure.

EU-CyCLONe shall report on a regular basis to the Cooperation Group on the management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and crises, as well as trends, focusing in particular on their impact on essential and important entities.

EU-CyCLONe shall cooperate with the CSIRTs network on the basis of agreed procedural arrangements provided for in Article 15(6).

By 17 July 2024 and every 18 months thereafter, EU-CyCLONe shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report assessing its work.

ENISA shall adopt, in cooperation with the Commission and the Cooperation Group, a biennial report on the state of cybersecurity in the Union and shall submit and present that report to the European Parliament. The report shall, inter alia, be made available in machine-readable data and include the following:

The report shall include particular policy recommendations, with a view to addressing shortcomings and increasing the level of cybersecurity across the Union, and a summary of the findings for the particular period from the EU Cybersecurity Technical Situation Reports on incidents and cyber threats prepared by ENISA in accordance with Article 7(6) of Regulation (EU) 2019/881.

ENISA, in cooperation with the Commission, the Cooperation Group and the CSIRTs network, shall develop the methodology, including the relevant variables, such as quantitative and qualitative indicators, of the aggregated assessment referred to in paragraph 1, point (e).

The Cooperation Group shall, on 17 January 2025, establish, with the assistance of the Commission and ENISA, and, where relevant, the CSIRTs network, the methodology and organisational aspects of peer reviews with a view to learning from shared experiences, strengthening mutual trust, achieving a high common level of cybersecurity, as well as enhancing Member States’ cybersecurity capabilities and policies necessary to implement this Directive. Participation in peer reviews is voluntary. The peer reviews shall be carried out by cybersecurity experts. The cybersecurity experts shall be designated by at least two Member States, different from the Member State being reviewed.

The methodology referred to in paragraph 1 shall include objective, non-discriminatory, fair and transparent criteria on the basis of which the Member States designate cybersecurity experts eligible to carry out the peer reviews. The Commission and ENISA shall participate as observers in the peer reviews.

Member States may identify specific issues as referred to in paragraph 1, point (f), for the purposes of a peer review.

Before commencing a peer review as referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall notify the participating Member States of its scope, including the specific issues identified pursuant to paragraph 3.

Prior to the commencement of the peer review, Member States may carry out a self-assessment of the reviewed aspects and provide that self-assessment to the designated cybersecurity experts. The Cooperation Group shall, with the assistance of the Commission and ENISA, lay down the methodology for the Member States’ self-assessment.

Peer reviews shall entail physical or virtual on-site visits and off-site exchanges of information. In line with the principle of good cooperation, the Member State subject to the peer review shall provide the designated cybersecurity experts with the information necessary for the assessment, without prejudice to Union or national law concerning the protection of confidential or classified information and to the safeguarding of essential State functions, such as national security. The Cooperation Group, in cooperation with the Commission and ENISA, shall develop appropriate codes of conduct underpinning the working methods of designated cybersecurity experts. Any information obtained through the peer review shall be used solely for that purpose. The cybersecurity experts participating in the peer review shall not disclose any sensitive or confidential information obtained in the course of that peer review to any third parties.

Once subject to a peer review, the same aspects reviewed in a Member State shall not be subject to a further peer review in that Member State for two years following the conclusion of the peer review, unless otherwise requested by the Member State or agreed upon after a proposal of the Cooperation Group.

Member States shall ensure that any risk of conflict of interest concerning the designated cybersecurity experts is revealed to the other Member States, the Cooperation Group, the Commission and ENISA, before the commencement of the peer review. The Member State subject to the peer review may object to the designation of particular cybersecurity experts on duly substantiated grounds communicated to the designating Member State.

Cybersecurity experts participating in peer reviews shall draft reports on the findings and conclusions of the peer reviews. Member States subject to a peer review may provide comments on the draft reports concerning them and such comments shall be attached to the reports. The reports shall include recommendations to enable improvement on the aspects covered by the peer review. The reports shall be submitted to the Cooperation Group and the CSIRTs network where relevant. A Member State subject to the peer review may decide to make its report, or a redacted version of it, publicly available.

Member States shall ensure that the management bodies of essential and important entities approve the cybersecurity risk-management measures taken by those entities in order to comply with Article 21, oversee its implementation and can be held liable for infringements by the entities of that Article.

Member States shall ensure that the members of the management bodies of essential and important entities are required to follow training, and shall encourage essential and important entities to offer similar training to their employees on a regular basis, in order that they gain sufficient knowledge and skills to enable them to identify risks and assess cybersecurity risk-management practices and their impact on the services provided by the entity.

Member States shall ensure that essential and important entities take appropriate and proportionate technical, operational and organisational measures to manage the risks posed to the security of network and information systems which those entities use for their operations or for the provision of their services, and to prevent or minimise the impact of incidents on recipients of their services and on other services.

The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be based on an all-hazards approach that aims to protect network and information systems and the physical environment of those systems from incidents, and shall include at least the following:

Member States shall ensure that, when considering which measures referred to in paragraph 2, point (d), of this Article are appropriate, entities take into account the vulnerabilities specific to each direct supplier and service provider and the overall quality of products and cybersecurity practices of their suppliers and service providers, including their secure development procedures. Member States shall also ensure that, when considering which measures referred to in that point are appropriate, entities are required to take into account the results of the coordinated security risk assessments of critical supply chains carried out in accordance with Article 22(1).

Member States shall ensure that an entity that finds that it does not comply with the measures provided for in paragraph 2 takes, without undue delay, all necessary, appropriate and proportionate corrective measures.

By 17 October 2024, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the technical and the methodological requirements of the measures referred to in paragraph 2 with regard to DNS service providers, TLD name registries, cloud computing service providers, data centre service providers, content delivery network providers, managed service providers, managed security service providers, providers of online market places, of online search engines and of social networking services platforms, and trust service providers.

The Cooperation Group, in cooperation with the Commission and ENISA, may carry out coordinated security risk assessments of specific critical ICT services, ICT systems or ICT products supply chains, taking into account technical and, where relevant, non-technical risk factors.

The Commission, after consulting the Cooperation Group and ENISA, and, where necessary, relevant stakeholders, shall identify the specific critical ICT services, ICT systems or ICT products that may be subject to the coordinated security risk assessment referred to in paragraph 1.

Each Member State shall ensure that essential and important entities notify, without undue delay, its CSIRT or, where applicable, its competent authority in accordance with paragraph 4 of any incident that has a significant impact on the provision of their services as referred to in paragraph 3 (significant incident). Where appropriate, entities concerned shall notify, without undue delay, the recipients of their services of significant incidents that are likely to adversely affect the provision of those services. Each Member State shall ensure that those entities report, inter alia, any information enabling the CSIRT or, where applicable, the competent authority to determine any cross-border impact of the incident. The mere act of notification shall not subject the notifying entity to increased liability.

Where applicable, Member States shall ensure that essential and important entities communicate, without undue delay, to the recipients of their services that are potentially affected by a significant cyber threat any measures or remedies that those recipients are able to take in response to that threat. Where appropriate, the entities shall also inform those recipients of the significant cyber threat itself.

An incident shall be considered to be significant if:

Member States shall ensure that, for the purpose of notification under paragraph 1, the entities concerned submit to the CSIRT or, where applicable, the competent authority:

The CSIRT or the competent authority shall provide, without undue delay and where possible within 24 hours of receiving the early warning referred to in paragraph 4, point (a), a response to the notifying entity, including initial feedback on the significant incident and, upon request of the entity, guidance or operational advice on the implementation of possible mitigation measures. Where the CSIRT is not the initial recipient of the notification referred to in paragraph 1, the guidance shall be provided by the competent authority in cooperation with the CSIRT. The CSIRT shall provide additional technical support if the entity concerned so requests. Where the significant incident is suspected to be of criminal nature, the CSIRT or the competent authority shall also provide guidance on reporting the significant incident to law enforcement authorities.

Where appropriate, and in particular where the significant incident concerns two or more Member States, the CSIRT, the competent authority or the single point of contact shall inform, without undue delay, the other affected Member States and ENISA of the significant incident. Such information shall include the type of information received in accordance with paragraph 4. In so doing, the CSIRT, the competent authority or the single point of contact shall, in accordance with Union or national law, preserve the entity’s security and commercial interests as well as the confidentiality of the information provided.

Where public awareness is necessary to prevent a significant incident or to deal with an ongoing significant incident, or where disclosure of the significant incident is otherwise in the public interest, a Member State’s CSIRT or, where applicable, its competent authority, and, where appropriate, the CSIRTs or the competent authorities of other Member States concerned, may, after consulting the entity concerned, inform the public about the significant incident or require the entity to do so.

At the request of the CSIRT or the competent authority, the single point of contact shall forward notifications received pursuant to paragraph 1 to the single points of contact of other affected Member States.

The single point of contact shall submit to ENISA every three months a summary report, including anonymised and aggregated data on significant incidents, incidents, cyber threats and near misses notified in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article and with Article 30. In order to contribute to the provision of comparable information, ENISA may adopt technical guidance on the parameters of the information to be included in the summary report. ENISA shall inform the Cooperation Group and the CSIRTs network about its findings on notifications received every six months.

The CSIRTs or, where applicable, the competent authorities shall provide to the competent authorities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 information about significant incidents, incidents, cyber threats and near misses notified in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article and with Article 30 by entities identified as critical entities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557.

The Commission may adopt implementing acts further specifying the type of information, the format and the procedure of a notification submitted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article and to Article 30 and of a communication submitted pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article.

In order to demonstrate compliance with particular requirements of Article 21, Member States may require essential and important entities to use particular ICT products, ICT services and ICT processes, developed by the essential or important entity or procured from third parties, that are certified under European cybersecurity certification schemes adopted pursuant to Article 49 of Regulation (EU) 2019/881. Furthermore, Member States shall encourage essential and important entities to use qualified trust services.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 38, to supplement this Directive by specifying which categories of essential and important entities are to be required to use certain certified ICT products, ICT services and ICT processes or obtain a certificate under a European cybersecurity certification scheme adopted pursuant to Article 49 of Regulation (EU) 2019/881. Those delegated acts shall be adopted where insufficient levels of cybersecurity have been identified and shall include an implementation period.

Where no appropriate European cybersecurity certification scheme for the purposes of paragraph 2 of this Article is available, the Commission may, after consulting the Cooperation Group and the European Cybersecurity Certification Group, request ENISA to prepare a candidate scheme pursuant to Article 48(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/881.

In order to promote the convergent implementation of Article 21(1) and (2), Member States shall, without imposing or discriminating in favour of the use of a particular type of technology, encourage the use of European and international standards and technical specifications relevant to the security of network and information systems.

ENISA, in cooperation with Member States, and, where appropriate, after consulting relevant stakeholders, shall draw up advice and guidelines regarding the technical areas to be considered in relation to paragraph 1 as well as regarding already existing standards, including national standards, which would allow for those areas to be covered.

Entities falling within the scope of this Directive shall be considered to fall under the jurisdiction of the Member State in which they are established, except in the case of:

For the purposes of this Directive, an entity as referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be considered to have its main establishment in the Union in the Member State where the decisions related to the cybersecurity risk-management measures are predominantly taken. If such a Member State cannot be determined or if such decisions are not taken in the Union, the main establishment shall be considered to be in the Member State where cybersecurity operations are carried out. If such a Member State cannot be determined, the main establishment shall be considered to be in the Member State where the entity concerned has the establishment with the highest number of employees in the Union.

If an entity as referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), is not established in the Union, but offers services within the Union, it shall designate a representative in the Union. The representative shall be established in one of those Member States where the services are offered. Such an entity shall be considered to fall under the jurisdiction of the Member State where the representative is established. In the absence of a representative in the Union designated under this paragraph, any Member State in which the entity provides services may take legal actions against the entity for the infringement of this Directive.

The designation of a representative by an entity as referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be without prejudice to legal actions, which could be initiated against the entity itself.

Member States that have received a request for mutual assistance in relation to an entity as referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), may, within the limits of that request, take appropriate supervisory and enforcement measures in relation to the entity concerned that provides services or which has a network and information system on their territory.

ENISA shall create and maintain a registry of DNS service providers, TLD name registries, entities providing domain name registration services, cloud computing service providers, data centre service providers, content delivery network providers, managed service providers, managed security service providers, as well as providers of online marketplaces, of online search engines and of social networking services platforms, on the basis of the information received from the single points of contact in accordance with paragraph 4. Upon request, ENISA shall allow the competent authorities access to that registry, while ensuring that the confidentiality of information is protected where applicable.

Member States shall require entities referred to in paragraph 1 to submit the following information to the competent authorities by 17 January 2025:

Member States shall ensure that the entities referred to in paragraph 1 notify the competent authority about any changes to the information they submitted under paragraph 2 without delay and in any event within three months of the date of the change.

Upon receipt of the information referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, except for that referred to in paragraph 2, point (f), the single point of contact of the Member State concerned shall, without undue delay, forward it to ENISA.

Where applicable, the information referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall be submitted through the national mechanism referred to in Article 3(4), fourth subparagraph.

For the purpose of contributing to the security, stability and resilience of the DNS, Member States shall require TLD name registries and entities providing domain name registration services to collect and maintain accurate and complete domain name registration data in a dedicated database with due diligence in accordance with Union data protection law as regards data which are personal data.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, Member States shall require the database of domain name registration data to contain the necessary information to identify and contact the holders of the domain names and the points of contact administering the domain names under the TLDs. Such information shall include:

Member States shall require the TLD name registries and the entities providing domain name registration services to have policies and procedures, including verification procedures, in place to ensure that the databases referred to in paragraph 1 include accurate and complete information. Member States shall require such policies and procedures to be made publicly available.

Member States shall require the TLD name registries and the entities providing domain name registration services to make publicly available, without undue delay after the registration of a domain name, the domain name registration data which are not personal data.

Member States shall require the TLD name registries and the entities providing domain name registration services to provide access to specific domain name registration data upon lawful and duly substantiated requests by legitimate access seekers, in accordance with Union data protection law. Member States shall require the TLD name registries and the entities providing domain name registration services to reply without undue delay and in any event within 72 hours of receipt of any requests for access. Member States shall require policies and procedures with regard to the disclosure of such data to be made publicly available.

Compliance with the obligations laid down in paragraphs 1 to 5 shall not result in a duplication of collecting domain name registration data. To that end, Member States shall require TLD name registries and entities providing domain name registration services to cooperate with each other.

Member States shall ensure that entities falling within the scope of this Directive and, where relevant, other entities not falling within the scope of this Directive are able to exchange on a voluntary basis relevant cybersecurity information among themselves, including information relating to cyber threats, near misses, vulnerabilities, techniques and procedures, indicators of compromise, adversarial tactics, threat-actor-specific information, cybersecurity alerts and recommendations regarding configuration of cybersecurity tools to detect cyberattacks, where such information sharing:

Member States shall ensure that the exchange of information takes place within communities of essential and important entities, and where relevant, their suppliers or service providers. Such exchange shall be implemented through cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements in respect of the potentially sensitive nature of the information shared.

Member States shall facilitate the establishment of cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. Such arrangements may specify operational elements, including the use of dedicated ICT platforms and automation tools, content and conditions of the information-sharing arrangements. In laying down the details of the involvement of public authorities in such arrangements, Member States may impose conditions on the information made available by the competent authorities or the CSIRTs. Member States shall offer assistance for the application of such arrangements in accordance with their policies referred to in Article 7(2), point (h).

Member States shall ensure that essential and important entities notify the competent authorities of their participation in the cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2, upon entering into such arrangements, or, as applicable, of their withdrawal from such arrangements, once the withdrawal takes effect.

ENISA shall provide assistance for the establishment of cybersecurity information-sharing arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 by exchanging best practices and providing guidance.

Member States shall ensure that, in addition to the notification obligation provided for in Article 23, notifications can be submitted to the CSIRTs or, where applicable, the competent authorities, on a voluntary basis, by:

Member States shall process the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23. Member States may prioritise the processing of mandatory notifications over voluntary notifications.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities effectively supervise and take the measures necessary to ensure compliance with this Directive.

Member States may allow their competent authorities to prioritise supervisory tasks. Such prioritisation shall be based on a risk-based approach. To that end, when exercising their supervisory tasks provided for in Articles 32 and 33, the competent authorities may establish supervisory methodologies allowing for a prioritisation of such tasks following a risk-based approach.

The competent authorities shall work in close cooperation with supervisory authorities under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 when addressing incidents resulting in personal data breaches, without prejudice to the competence and tasks of the supervisory authorities under that Regulation.

Without prejudice to national legislative and institutional frameworks, Member States shall ensure that, in the supervision of compliance of public administration entities with this Directive and the imposition of enforcement measures with regard to infringements of this Directive, the competent authorities have appropriate powers to carry out such tasks with operational independence vis-à-vis the public administration entities supervised. Member States may decide on the imposition of appropriate, proportionate and effective supervisory and enforcement measures in relation to those entities in accordance with the national legislative and institutional frameworks.

Member States shall ensure that the supervisory or enforcement measures imposed on essential entities in respect of the obligations laid down in this Directive are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, taking into account the circumstances of each individual case.

Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities, when exercising their supervisory tasks in relation to essential entities, have the power to subject those entities at least to:

When exercising their powers under paragraph 2, point (e), (f) or (g), the competent authorities shall state the purpose of the request and specify the information requested.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities, when exercising their enforcement powers in relation to essential entities, have the power at least to:

Where enforcement measures adopted pursuant to paragraph 4, points (a) to (d) and (f), are ineffective, Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities have the power to establish a deadline by which the essential entity is requested to take the necessary action to remedy the deficiencies or to comply with the requirements of those authorities. If the requested action is not taken within the deadline set, Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities have the power to:

Member States shall ensure that any natural person responsible for or acting as a legal representative of an essential entity on the basis of the power to represent it, the authority to take decisions on its behalf or the authority to exercise control of it has the power to ensure its compliance with this Directive. Member States shall ensure that it is possible to hold such natural persons liable for breach of their duties to ensure compliance with this Directive.

When taking any of the enforcement measures referred to in paragraph 4 or 5, the competent authorities shall comply with the rights of the defence and take account of the circumstances of each individual case and, as a minimum, take due account of:

The competent authorities shall set out a detailed reasoning for their enforcement measures. Before adopting such measures, the competent authorities shall notify the entities concerned of their preliminary findings. They shall also allow a reasonable time for those entities to submit observations, except in duly substantiated cases where immediate action to prevent or respond to incidents would otherwise be impeded.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive inform the relevant competent authorities within the same Member State under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 when exercising their supervisory and enforcement powers aiming to ensure compliance of an entity identified as a critical entity under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 with this Directive. Where appropriate, the competent authorities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 may request the competent authorities under this Directive to exercise their supervisory and enforcement powers in relation to an entity that is identified as a critical entity under Directive (EU) 2022/2557.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive cooperate with the relevant competent authorities of the Member State concerned under Regulation (EU) 2022/2554. In particular, Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive inform the Oversight Forum established pursuant to Article 32(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 when exercising their supervisory and enforcement powers aimed at ensuring compliance of an essential entity that is designated as a critical ICT third-party service provider pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554. with this Directive.

When provided with evidence, indication or information that an important entity allegedly does not comply with this Directive, in particular Articles 21 and 23 thereof, Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities take action, where necessary, through ex post supervisory measures. Member States shall ensure that those measures are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, taking into account the circumstances of each individual case.

Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities, when exercising their supervisory tasks in relation to important entities, have the power to subject those entities at least to:

When exercising their powers under paragraph 2, point (d), (e) or (f), the competent authorities shall state the purpose of the request and specify the information requested.

Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities, when exercising their enforcement powers in relation to important entities, have the power at least to:

Article 32(6), (7) and (8) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the supervisory and enforcement measures provided for in this Article for important entities.

Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive cooperate with the relevant competent authorities of the Member State concerned under Regulation (EU) 2022/2554. In particular, Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities under this Directive inform the Oversight Forum established pursuant to Article 32(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 when exercising their supervisory and enforcement powers aimed at ensuring compliance of an important entity that is designated as a critical ICT third-party service provider pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554. with this Directive.

Member States shall ensure that the administrative fines imposed on essential and important entities pursuant to this Article in respect of infringements of this Directive are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, taking into account the circumstances of each individual case.

Administrative fines shall be imposed in addition to any of the measures referred to in Article 32(4), points (a) to (h), Article 32(5) and Article 33(4), points (a) to (g).

When deciding whether to impose an administrative fine and deciding on its amount in each individual case, due regard shall be given, as a minimum, to the elements provided for in Article 32(7).

Member States shall ensure that where they infringe Article 21 or 23, essential entities are subject, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, to administrative fines of a maximum of at least EUR 10 000 000 or of a maximum of at least 2 % of the total worldwide annual turnover in the preceding financial year of the undertaking to which the essential entity belongs, whichever is higher.

Member States shall ensure that where they infringe Article 21 or 23, important entities are subject, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, to administrative fines of a maximum of at least EUR 7 000 000 or of a maximum of at least 1,4 % of the total worldwide annual turnover in the preceding financial year of the undertaking to which the important entity belongs, whichever is higher.

Member States may provide for the power to impose periodic penalty payments in order to compel an essential or important entity to cease an infringement of this Directive in accordance with a prior decision of the competent authority.

Without prejudice to the powers of the competent authorities pursuant to Articles 32 and 33, each Member State may lay down the rules on whether and to what extent administrative fines may be imposed on public administration entities.

Where the legal system of a Member State does not provide for administrative fines, that Member State shall ensure that this Article is applied in such a manner that the fine is initiated by the competent authority and imposed by competent national courts or tribunals, while ensuring that those legal remedies are effective and have an equivalent effect to the administrative fines imposed by the competent authorities. In any event, the fines imposed shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The Member State shall notify to the Commission the provisions of the laws which it adopts pursuant to this paragraph by 17 October 2024 and, without delay, any subsequent amendment law or amendment affecting them.

Where the competent authorities become aware in the course of supervision or enforcement that the infringement by an essential or important entity of the obligations laid down in Articles 21 and 23 of this Directive can entail a personal data breach, as defined in Article 4, point (12), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 which is to be notified pursuant to Article 33 of that Regulation, they shall, without undue delay, inform the supervisory authorities as referred to in Article 55 or 56 of that Regulation.

Where the supervisory authorities as referred to in Article 55 or 56 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 impose an administrative fine pursuant to Article 58(2), point (i), of that Regulation, the competent authorities shall not impose an administrative fine pursuant to Article 34 of this Directive for an infringement referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article arising from the same conduct as that which was the subject of the administrative fine under Article 58(2), point (i), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The competent authorities may, however, impose the enforcement measures provided for in Article 32(4), points (a) to (h), Article 32(5) and Article 33(4), points (a) to (g), of this Directive.

Where the supervisory authority competent pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is established in another Member State than the competent authority, the competent authority shall inform the supervisory authority established in its own Member State of the potential data breach referred to in paragraph 1.

Where an entity provides services in more than one Member State, or provides services in one or more Member States and its network and information systems are located in one or more other Member States, the competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall cooperate with and assist each other as necessary. That cooperation shall entail, at least, that:

Where appropriate and with common agreement, the competent authorities of various Member States may carry out joint supervisory actions.

The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 24(2) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 16 January 2023.

The delegation of power referred to in Article 24(2) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 24(2) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Where the opinion of the committee is to be obtained by written procedure, that procedure shall be terminated without result when, within the time-limit for delivery of the opinion, the chair of the committee so decides or a committee member so requests.

By 17 October 2024, Member States shall adopt and publish the measures necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt the measures referred to in paragraph 1, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.