Commission vice-president Henna Virkkunen has presented new EU funding opportunities worth €20 million in Riga today aimed at protecting Europe’s submarine cables.
The new funding comes under the Digital Europe Programme and will support the creation of regional cable hubs and stress-testing the resilience of undersea cable infrastructures.
Specifically, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, which is the EU Central hub for managing cybersecurity funds, is publishing a €10 million call dedicated to the establishment of regional cable hubs. These hubs will monitor threats, apply AI-based analysis for real-time detection, and enable faster incident response. The Nordic-Baltic region will host the first pilot hub.
In addition, a further €10 million call under the Cyber Solidarity Act recently opened, whose funds will boost preparedness and testing of critical infrastructure.
“These new EU funding opportunities will help us strengthen the resilience of Europe’s submarine cable networks – our digital lifelines”, said EC executive vice-president Henna Virkkunen: “By investing in Regional Cable Hubs and improved stress-testing, we are boosting our capacity to detect, prevent and respond to threats. The new expert report provides the foundation for this work, mapping Europe’s cable infrastructure and the main risks we must address together.”
Ms Virkkunen also outlined the progress shown by the Cables Expert Group report, published today, in strengthening Europe’s security and resilience of critical submarine cables. The report maps existing and planned infrastructures, assesses risks, and sets stress-testing guidelines. It is a key objective of the EU Action Plan on Cable Security, adopted in February 2025, which covers the full resilience cycle – prevention, detection, response, recovery and deterrence.
More information on the report and new funding opportunities is available online.
