[DRAFT] A Pressing Need for an EU Underwater Watchdog

Imagine waking up one morning to find out your favourite social media app is down. A few minutes later, your internet connection is interrupted, not just in your house but across the entire city. Planes are grounded. Hospitals struggle to access patients’ records and perform urgent interventions. Financial transactions stall midstream. The world stops moving in a split second because of a single breach deep under the sea surface.

While it may sound like the plot of an apocalyptic movie, this scenario is not science fiction. Despite the likelihood of such incidents, the current legal and supervisory measures are insufficient to tackle the threat.

“What is essential is invisible to the e y e.” The words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince capture the eerie invisibility of the systems we rely on most – subsea communication cables. Hidden not only beneath the surface of the Baltic Sea but also beyond European waters, these information veins carr y approximately 9 9 % of g lobal internet traffic worldwide. While satellites dazzle as the stars of connectivity, it is the fragile submerged cables that dominate information transfer.

Out of Sight, Out of Control?

Despite their critical role, undersea cables receive insufficient regulatory attention. A single anchor drag, accidental or not, can sever them. An example of such an incident is the dama g ed cable between German y and Finland in November 2024 . While it proved to be an accident, the rising geopolitical tensions may thin the line between mishap and potential sabotage.

The European Commission is fully aware of potential threats to underwater infrastructure and acts proactively to “deter , prevent , detect and respond” to cable dama g e. However, the oversight remains irregular because responsibility is split across national coastguards, military bodies, cybersecurity agencies, and telecom regulators. The room for improvement is apparent.

EMSA: A Sleeping Titan

When it comes to preserving underwater infrastructure, European Maritime Safet y A g ency (EMSA) appears to be a pearl buried in the sand. Created to enhance maritime safety and prevent pollution, EMSA possesses some of the most advanced surveillance capabilities in the EU .From drones and satellites to remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) that can inspect the seabed, EMSA literally has a clear vision where other agencies do not even have a peek. It already monitors shipping routes, investigates maritime incidents, and supports EU countries with real-time observation. Its CleanSeaNet and SafeSeaNet s y stems are golden standards in maritime tracking. Unfortunately, its (currently) narrow mandate, granted by its foundational document- Re g ulation 1 4 06/2002 , prevents it from realising its fullest potential.

So, why not give EMSA the power to watch over the very infrastructure those ships rely on?

From Maritime Safety to Digital Infrastructure Security

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), EU countries have the right (and the obligation) to protect underwater infrastructure in their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) – areas of sea a country controls for economic purposes. Articles 60, 79, and 80 of UNCLOS explicitly allow for the regulation and protection of such structures, firmly placing the communication cables within the safety remit.

The starting point for the EU is found, as so often, in the treaties. The rationale that the Union can legislate only in areas conferred upon it by the member states holds valid. In the case of maritime safety, the EU cannot act on its own. Based on Article 3 of the Treat y on the Functionin g of the European Union (TFEU), maritime safety is not within the exclusive competence of the Union. Therefore, Article 5 of the Treat y on the European Union (TEU) grants the EU a legal opportunity to step in where it can act more effectively than Member States alone. Given EMSA’s pan-European reach and specialized technology, it is hard to argue against this being one of the examples of EU competence suitability.

Safety Is Not Just About Shipwrecks and Oil Spills Anymore

Modern maritime safety should also extend to protecting the digital lifelines that power 21st-century Europe (and the world). Subsea cables connect us not just to each other, but to global markets, health systems, military coordination, and disaster response tools. The European Parliament has referred to these cables as “quintessential to g lobal connectivit y ” and warned that the y are “hi g hl y susceptible to vulnerabilities.” Yet, as it stands, EMSA, the most technically capable agency in Europe’s maritime toolbox, remains on the legal sidelines.

A Missed Opportunity

Due to being legally barred from taking the lead in supervisory and investigative activities, EMSA’s valuable technology and resources cannot serve this great cause. Employing EMSA’s capabilities (i.e. its technical and legal expertise) would bridge a gap in the current supervisory system and help effectively oversee the underwater infrastructure. Moreover, the extension of EMSA’s mandate would not step on anyone’s toes, but rather stitch together a fragmented system, add clarity to responsibility, and bring powerful tools into active use. Most importantly, it would shift the EU from a reactive stance to a preventative one- spotting the trouble before it materializes.

The New Competencies

Now that the need for the extension of EMSA’s mandate is established, the authors of the present blog took the courtesy to summarise EMSA’s new future responsibilities:

From Seafloor towards the Sun

In a world where digital infrastructure is seen as the holy grail of today’s global connectivity, relying on a patchwork supervisory system does not cut it. Whether it is a simple anchor or a complex hybrid threat, the damage to subsea cables could bring Europe to a standstill. This implies an increased need for a unified and effective approach. In the end, the incidents related to underwater structures rarely involve a single Member State. They rather represent a wider, re g ional challen g e, callin g for interstate cooperation via a common , accessible and , most importantly , competent hub. EMSA, with its resources and expertise, is the embodiment of such a hub. Allowing it to ascend from the legal seafloor has the potential to shift the current approach to undersea infrastructure towards a brighter future. So, unless we want our digital lights out, it is time to lift the anchors of legal constraints.