2007 ORDINARY SESSION

________________________

(Third part)

REPORT

Twenty-Fifth Sitting

Thursday 28 June 2007 at 10 a.m.

Mr HERKEL (Estonia). – This time, dear colleagues, I have the opportunity to speak on a topic that is so closely related to my country. The size of the cyber-attack was unprecedented and I would like to remind you that my political family, the Group of the European People’s Party political bureau, condemned the attacks on Estonia, including the cyber-attacks that had already taken place on 15 May.

Despite the fact that this report was prepared for debate under our urgent procedure, it is not the first fast reaction with the intention of condemning cyber-criminals. Honestly speaking, the international community is quite helpless vis-à-vis cyber-terrorism. This report deals with proposals and possible solutions to improve our existing instruments to fight against cybercrime.

Rapporteur Mr Sasi, as well as the other rapporteurs for opinion, had very limited time, but they worked effectively. I would like to thank you all, including committee staff, for this contribution.

I would like to make a few relevant comments. First, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime is the most comprehensive international treaty on the subject. Unfortunately, it is not ratified by many member states, yet what happened in Estonia highlights the importance of the topic. We should also remember that this convention is open to non-member states. The United States ratified the convention; Canada, Japan and South Africa signed it; and Costa Rica and Mexico are invited to accede. It is therefore right to emphasise the pioneering role of the Council of Europe.

At the same time, however, and in the light of new challenges, there is an urgent need to develop additional instruments. The most important issue is international co-operation and the exchange of information at all levels – I emphasise all levels – of the countries concerned in order to combat-cyber attacks effectively. Without international will, we cannot succeed.

We are eager to consider the findings of the Committee of Experts on Terrorism regarding improvements to the various instruments. It would be possible to have additional protocols to the convention in two different fields. There could be a framework of co-operation between states, and a more exact definition of cybercrime and cyber-terrorism.