EU Law Against Hybrid Threats: A First Assessment

The European Union defined hybrid threats as measures using diplomatic, military, eco-nomic and technological tactics to destabilise a political adversary. These threats are one of the emerging security challenges in Europe and have the potential to shape the future of the conti-nent. It is EU policy that the primary responsibility for countering them lies with the Member States; and that NATO’s mandate for the security of Europe makes it an important partner for the military and conventional deterrence aspects to tackle hybrid threats. This Article describes and discusses the legal tools available to the EU for deterring, mitigating or neutralising hybrid threats. The focus is on disinformation, hostile foreign subsidies and investment, cyber threats, border pressure, and lawfare. The EU seems, overall, legally well-equipped to counter the threats, thus positioning itself as the complementary and to a great extent autonomous ally of NATO in this domain. There is a distinctively supra-national dimension to virtually all of these threats, and this justifies that an EU competence arises. Hybrid threats cover such a broad array of issues that a single piece of legislation is neither feasible nor, probably, desirable; but if there were to be one, it would probably be based on art. 114 TFEU rather than on emergency clauses or on wholesale con-stitutional reforms. In any case, EU law will need to take into account that a close cooperation be-tween the public and private sector is vital for countering hybrid threats.