In its Conclusions of 27 May 2011 on CIIP, the Council of the European Union stressed the pressing need to make ICT systems and networks resilient and secure against all possible disruptions, whether accidental or intentional, to develop across the EU a high level of preparedness, security and resilience capabilities, to upgrade technical competences to allow Europe to meet the challenge of network and information infrastructure protection, and to foster cooperation between the Member States by developing incident cooperation mechanisms between the Member States.

23. Recalls that cloud computing can become a powerful instrument for the development of the digital single market, and can offer economic benefits, particularly for SMEs, by reducing IT infrastructure and other costs; highlights in this connection the fact that, if cloud services are provided only by a limited number of large providers, an increasing amount of information will be aggregated in the hands of those providers; recalls, furthermore, that cloud computing also entails risks for users, in particular as regards sensitive da ...[+++]ta; calls for proper implementation of the European strategy to guarantee competitive and secure cloud computing;

97. Calls on the Commission, by January 2015 at the latest, to present an Action Plan to develop greater EU independence in the IT sector, including a more coherent approach to boosting European IT technological capabilities (including IT systems, equipment, services, cloud computing, encryption and anonymisation) and to the protection of critical IT infrastructure (including in terms of ownership and vulnerability);

On the other hand, due to the strong commercial nature of cloud systems, the future strategy must address a wide number of aspects that range from technological issues related to cloud systems development, management and elastic scalability, without forgetting the flexibility that any ICT development needs in order not to hamper innovation when addressing standardisation matters, to non-technical issues such as legal aspects related to data privacy and security that pose a major obstacle towards wide uptake of cloud infrastructures.

91. Calls on the Member States to draw up cyberincident contingency plans in order to cope with cyberdisruptions or cyberattacks having crossborder implications, including critical information infrastructure plans at both European and national level, and also to develop strategies for a more resilient and reliable infrastructure; stresses that international cooperation in this area should be intensified; recalls that network and information security is the responsibility of all stakeholders, including users at home, service provider ...[+++]s and product developers; recommends encouraging cybersecurity-related training and education for both citizens and professionals;

27. Calls on the Member States to draw up cyber-incident contingency plans to cope with cyber-disruptions or cyber-attacks with cross-border relevance, including European and national critical information infrastructure plans, and to develop strategies for a more resilient and reliable infrastructure; stresses that international cooperation in this area should be intensified; recalls that network and information security is the responsibility of all stakeholders, including users at home, service providers and product developers; re ...[+++]commends encouraging cyber-security-related training and education for both citizens and professionals;