US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano traveled to Brussels and met with European Commission (EC) Vice President and Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, EC Vice President and Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, and several Members of the European Parliament to discuss international collaboration to strengthen cyber, cargo and aviation security and ensure the security and resilience of our global supply chain systems against terrorism, transnational crime and natural disasters while also facilitating the flow of legitimate travel and commerce in advance of previously scheduled meetings with the World Customs Organization.
In her meeting with EC Vice President and Digital Agenda Commissioner Kroes, Secretary Napolitano underscored the Obama administration's continued collaboration with the European Union to strengthen cybersecurity-including the ongoing, coordinated efforts of the United States and EU to protect vital cyber networks from attacks through the U.S.-EU Cyber Working Group. This Working Group-formalized by President Obama in the Nov. 20 U.S.-EU Summit Declaration-provides for the continued sharing of cybersecurity best practices and security standards and enhances collaboration on public-private partnerships, cyber incident management, and combating cyber crime.
In her meeting with EC Vice President and Transport Commissioner Kallas, Secretary Napolitano discussed collaborative efforts to strengthen international air cargo security, enhance air passenger safety, and better secure the global supply chain. U.S.-EU collaboration played a key role in the adoption of the historic Declaration on Aviation Security at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Triennial Assembly in October 2010, and in forging a new global framework for aviation security that will better protect the entire global aviation system from evolving terrorist threats and make air travel safer and more secure than ever before. Secretary Napolitano's visit to Belgium follows stops in Ireland, Afghanistan, Qatar and Israel.
