In a statement released by the S&D Group in the European Parliament at the end of the discussions between the Parliament and the Council on Dora, the new European law governing cybersecurity for financial institutions, Labour MEP Alfred Sant called for sufficient resources to now be put in place to enhance the cybersecurity of European financial institutions.

The current geopolitical context makes the effective implementation of the new regulation a must since cyberattacks are on the rise.

The Head of the Labour delegation at the Socialist and Democratic Group (S&D) was the negotiator on the Digital Operational Resilience Act for the S&D as the European Parliament and the European Council have reached a provisional political agreement on the new law.

Sant stated that the new legislation will make sure that banks, insurers and other financial institutions in the European Union are better equipped to prevent, detect and resolve digital operational risks and disruptions. "While making sure to adopt a balanced legislation with the right amount of flexibility and proportionality, the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) also ensured that loopholes are closed."

Non-European service providers including big cloud companies that are crucial for the functioning of the European financial sector will be subject to tight harmonised rules.

Sant emphasized that the Socialist & Democratic Group (S&D) had wanted the new requirements to also apply to auditors, since these have priviliged access to the information technology infrastructures of financial entities. Instead, a review clause has been introduced to assess the need to include auditors in the legislation in the future.