Estonia’s response to the OEWG zero draft report
February 2021
Estonia considers the zero draft report, presented by the OEWG Chair Ambassador Jürg
Lauber on 19 January 2021, to be a balanced text which reflects the range of discussions and
opinions expressed by States throughout our work together. In our view, the process led by
the Chair has been in keeping with this group’s spirit of transparency and inclusiveness. We
would like to commend Chair and his team for their tireless efforts since the beginning of the
OEWG’s work and express our confidence in their ability to guide this process to a
substantive consensus outcome that would further pave the way for future discussions of
the use of ICTs in the context of international security.
General comments
1. Estonia in principle supports the streamlining of the final report if it allows to bring
forth consensus, does not dilute mentions of previous consensus agreements,
outlines action-driven and inclusive outcomes, and finds a way to reflect the valuable
and rich contributions of many countries throughout the OEWG process.
2. In particular, Estonia welcomes the structure of the zero draft, including the ordering
of particular sections. With international law serving as the bedrock of responsible
state behaviour in cyberspace, we consider it particularly important that it is placed
before the section on rules, norms and principles for responsible state behaviour.
3. The OEWG’s work has been guided by the acknowledgement that we are not starting
from scratch. For this reason, Estonia finds it particularly important that the report
emphasises and elevates existing consensus agreements, most notably the 11
voluntary non-binding norms of responsible State behaviour included in the 2015
report of the UN Group of Governmental Experts and endorsed by UN General
Assembly resolution 70/237 by consensus, over possible norms not agreed by
consensus. We welcome the inclusion of the 11 norms in the report’s introduction
but consider it could be emphasised even further.
4. Estonia considers the presentation of developments of ICTs having implications for all
three pillars of the UN’s work: peace and security, human rights and sustainable
development. Estonia does not regard these as mutually inclusive but stresses that
the interwoven nature of ICTs and the ongoing digital transformation of societies
further requires to see these aspects as interdependent and as such integral
elements of the OEWG’s work.
5. The OEWG will have done the majority of its work under the circumstances of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Estonia welcomes its clear reference in the report’s introduction
and sees it as an important reason to particularly bring out medical institutions as
one part of critical infrastructure in the report.
Existing and potential threats
6. Estonia continue to welcome the inclusion of the concept of “technology-neutral”
(paragraph 17). We agree that it is the malicious use of technologies that is of
concern, rather than technological advances as a fact. Its continued inclusion is
important to help define future scope of discussions in the First Committee.