Information society, eEurope 2005: European network and information security Agency

The Council agreed on a general approach, pending the European Parliament's opinion in first reading, on the draft Regulation aimed at establishing a European Network and Information Security Agency. It requested the Permanent Representatives Committee to examine the Parliament's opinion when available so as to enable the Council to adopt a common position at a forthcoming meeting. The general approach was agreed on with two abstentions, by the German and United Kingdom delegations. The text of the general approach includes the main following changes in relation to the Commission's initial proposal: - Limitation of the Agency's activities to an advisory role and deletion of provisions concerning an advisory board. - Modification of the composition of the Management Board to include one representative of each Member State, three representatives appointed by the Commission and one representative each (without the right to vote) of the information and consumer technologies industry, consumer groups and academic experts in network and information security. - Extension of the Management Board's functions and of its involvement in the day-to-day operation of the Agency.�