Joint Critical Infrastructure Statement on NATO Resilience

We, the undersigned organisations, represent the companies and public and private utilities that keep European societies functioning - supplying drinking water and treating wastewater, powering homes and businesses, connecting people and institutions, and protecting public health. Our members operate the critical infrastructure that governments and militaries depend on in peacetime and crisis alike.

We welcome the historic commitment of NATO Allies at The Hague to invest up to 1.5% of GDP in societal resilience by 2035. At the Ankara Summit, Allies reported their resilience spending for the first time - a meaningful milestone that reflects growing Allied ambition on resilience.

As the operators of critical infrastructure across Europe, we have a direct stake in how this commitment develops. Resilience investment must deliver genuine, commensurate improvements to the systems societies depend on - ensuring that critical services are available when they are needed most. This much-needed investment cannot become an accounting exercise, but a forward-looking commitment to measurably improve our collective resilience.

We look forward to working with Allied governments, NATO, and EU institutions to ensure the 1.5% commitment translates into real and lasting resilience that benefits citizens across our societies. We know firsthand that our critical infrastructure must be strengthened to support meaningful improvement in societal resilience. We stand ready to contribute our operational expertise and engage with Allied governments and NATO to ensure this spending delivers meaningful new resilience capabilities in the years ahead.

Signatories:

• Connect Europe: Association of leading European providers of connectivity
  networks and services.
• EurEau: European Water Services Association
• Eurelectric: The Federation of the European Electricity Industry
• Hope: European Hospital and Healthcare Federation