prevention of, preparedness for and ability to recover from threats affecting the Internet. For example, the consequences of the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 should also be assessed in terms of CII security. The Internet is a global and highly distributed network of networks, with control centres not necessarily following national boundaries. This calls for a specific, targeted approach in order to ensure its resilience and stability, based on two converging measures. First, achieving a common consensus on the European priorities for the resilience and stability of the Internet, in terms of public policy and of operational deployment. Secondly, engaging the global community to develop a set of principles, reflecting European core values, for Internet resilience and stability, in the framework of our strategic dialogue and cooperation with third countries and international organisations. These activities would build upon the recognition by the World Summit on Information Society25 of the key importance of the stability of the Internet. 4. THE WAY FORWARD: TOWARDS MORE EU COORDINATION AND COOPERATION Because of the Community and international dimension of the problem an integrated EU approach to enhance the security and resilience of CIIs would complement and add value to national programmes as well as to the existing bilateral and multilateral cooperation schemes between Member States. Public policy discussions in the aftermath of the events in Estonia suggest that the effects of similar attacks can be limited by preventive measures and by coordinated action during the actual crisis. A more structured exchange of information and good practices across the EU could considerably facilitate fighting cross-border threats. It is necessary to strengthen the existing instruments for cooperation, including ENISA, and, if necessary, create new tools. A multi-stakeholder, multi-level approach is essential, taking place at the European level while fully respecting and complementing national responsibilities. A thorough understanding of the environment and constraints is necessary. For example, the distributed nature of the Internet, where edge nodes can be used as vectors of attack, e.g. botnets, is a concern. However, this distributed nature is a key component of stability and resilience and can help a faster recovery than would normally be the case with overformalised, top-down procedures. This calls for a cautious, case-by-case analysis of public policies and operational procedures to put in place. The time horizon is also important. There is a clear need to act now and put rapidly in place the necessary elements to build a framework that will enable us to respond to current challenges and that will feed into the future strategy for network and information security. Five pillars are proposed to tackle these challenges: 25 EN (1) Preparedness and prevention: to ensure preparedness at all levels; (2) Detection and response: to provide adequate early warning mechanisms; Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/6rev1.html 7 EN