Over the past years, investments in cyber defence in the EU have increased against the background of growing malicious cyber activities by state and non-state actors. It is critical that the EU strengthens its cyber defence capabilities. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine further reinforces the need for increased investments, to ensure that Member States have stateof-the-art cyber defence capabilities, both stationary and deployable. Technology improvements are essential to maintain an advantage over competitors and adversaries, who are also investing heavily in new technologies. Therefore, the EU and Member States also need to enhance their cooperation and interoperability on cyber defence through joint capability development and increased investments in research and development. In addition, vulnerabilities stemming from strategic dependencies and the fragmentation of the EDTIB37 need to be addressed. In particular, skills and competences are essential to overcome strategic dependencies on cybersecurity and cyber defence in Europe. The European defence industry needs to retain key skills and acquire new ones to remain in a position to deliver hightech solutions in a global setting38. A lack of skills has a negative impact for the defence sector, as it hampers capability development in all domains. All actions will be fully in line with the approaches announced in the Synergies Action Plan, the Roadmap on critical technologies for security and defence (‘the Roadmap’)39 and the Gaps Analysis40. 3.1. Develop full-spectrum state-of-the-art cyber defence capabilities Member States bear the responsibility and competence to use cyber defence capabilities, whereas the EU plays an important role in supporting the further development of specific military capabilities across the Doctrine, Organisation, Training, Materiel, Personnel, Leadership, Facilities and Interoperability (DOTMLPF-I) spectrum to create freedom of action in cyberspace. There is a need to unify further the approach to cyber defence across all capability domains and to adapt it to the changing geopolitical environment. It is therefore necessary to identify the missing elements in existing capabilities and support the development of new capabilities in a coordinated and measurable manner. However, the level of engagement of Member States in collaborative cyber defence development projects remains insufficient to date and should be increased to maximise the impact at the EU level. All Member States must increase their investments in developing fullspectrum cyber defence capabilities and develop these in a collaborative manner. Member States should consider developing a set of voluntary commitments for the development of national cyber defence capabilities, also multinational capabilities beyond existing PESCO cyber defence projects41. The Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) process could be used to start a dialogue with Member States on cyber defence requirements and national 37 E.g. as identified in the Defence Investment Gaps Analysis Several initiatives have been launched, e.g. the European Defence Skills Partnership. 39 The Commission in the Roadmap on critical technologies called to reinforce cooperation on technologies that are critical for Europe’s long-term security and defence and efforts to reduce related strategic dependencies. 40 The Joint Communication on the Defence Investment Gaps Analysis and Way Forward where the Commission and the High Representative have proposed several measures to ensure that the EU’s industry is equipped to deliver both in the short and long run. 41 Cyber Rapid Response Teams and Mutual Assistance in Cyber Security (CRRT), Cyber and Information Domain Coordination Centre (CIDCC), Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform (CTIRISP), Cyber Ranges Federations (CRF), EU Cyber Academia and Innovation Hub (EU CAIH). 38 12