ECR member Mario Guarente, Mayor of Potenza in Italy, saw his draft opinion on expanding the scope of the 2008 European Critical Infrastructure directive adopted by an overwhelming majority in the CoR NAT (Natural Resources) Commission. In an evaluation of the Directive 2008/114/EC on the identification and designation of European critical infrastructures (ECIs) he concluded that the directive is only of partial relevance today due to a very different security landscape as well as the directive having a limited scope (covering only transport and energy sectors).

Mr Guarente stressed that "it is imperative that the entities that operate critical infrastructures are properly protected against a wide spectrum of threats, be they natural or man-made, unintentional or with malicious intent. Critical entities must be resilient wherever and whenever disruptions occur". To this end, the opinion calls for communication and reporting measures to be promoted, vis-à-vis the local administrations and the people living in the areas concerned, with regard to risk levels. "There should be particular attention paid to the condition of existing physical infrastructure for the purposes of establishing suitable programmes for upgrading the infrastructure or constructing new buildings", urged Mr Gaurente in a discussion prior to the adoption of the opinion.

Finally, when it comes to drawing up the resilience strategies, "local and regional authorities should be involved and the public properly informed", concluded the Mayor.

Mr Guarente's opinion will be up for adoption at the June/July CoR plenary session.