Protecting the EU's Submarine Cable Infrastructure: Germany's Opportunity to Transform Vulnerability into Mutual Resilience

Abstract

Submarine cables handle over 95 percent of the world’s internet traffic, making them essential for everything from finance to foreign affairs. The September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream pipelines and increased Russian naval activity brought greater awareness of how European - and German - interconnectedness also brings vulnerability. The urgency of tackling this threat offers Germany an opportunity to take a structural and joined-up approach that shows it can act as a "team power."