The report captures the lengthy discussions held around the possibility to establish a regular institutional dialogue as well as the lack of consensus, at this stage, on the way forward. While sharing the view that substantial and frequent exchanges among Member States are essential, we would like to reiterate that any reflection on the establishment of a regular institutional dialogue is premature and should be based on the achievements of both the OEWG and the GGE, whose mandate expires in 2021. This position, shared by a great number of States, should be appropriately reflected in the text. The report makes also reference to the suggestion to establish a regular institutional dialogue as a follow up mechanism to a politically binding instrument. However, there is a lack of consensus about negotiating such an instrument and this should be reflected in the text. H. Conclusions and Recommendation As stated in the EU document, Italy is supportive of all recommendations aimed at fostering implementation of norms and CBMs. Equally, we encourage the second “pre-draft” report to delineate clearly what would be addressed in the regular work of the Secretary General, such as sharing best practices and national views on the different issues of OEWG’s mandate, from the establishment of a global repository, by defining the scope and coordination instruments, including financial aspects. One of the recommendations contained in the draft refers to the involvement of the International Law Commission. We would like to express our caution about this recommendation: tasking the ILC to undertake a study on how international law applies in the use of ICT at this stage could overlap the important work currently carried out by the OEWG and the GGE. With regard to international law, we would like also that the report underlines the role that the application of rules, norms and principles of responsible behaviour play in the development of customary international law. 16th April 2020. 4