New Vodafone Institute / EPC report urges holistic strategy to secure Europe’s subsea cables
Europe’s vast network of subsea cables are the invisible backbone of global connectivity. A new discussion paper from the Vodafone Institute and EPC has highlighted how they have become a strategic concern as geopolitical tensions rise and data traffic soars.
“Beyond the Action Plan: Towards a Holistic Strategy for a Competitive and Secure Subsea Infrastructure in Europe” sets out how Europe must act more decisively to address mounting challenges in securing its critical undersea infrastructure against both market and military threats.
Against this backdrop, Vodafone Institute and EPC argue for a more holistic strategy on subsea cables to ensure Europe can safeguard competitiveness, security and technological sovereignty.
A Shifting Landscape
Subsea cables carry up to 99% of the world’s data traffic. The internet could not function without them.
Despite significant investments in infrastructure by telecoms operators in recent years, the cable sector’s ownership is rapidly consolidating. Just four US cloud giants - Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon - now control 71% of global subsea fibre capacity, overtaking traditional European telecoms.
With EU funding for infrastructure dwarfed by private US investment, this shift leaves Europe lagging.
Meanwhile, the seabed has emerged as a new arena for hybrid warfare. In recent years, there has been a surge in deliberate attacks and disruptions from the Nord Stream pipeline explosion to multiple cable cuts in the Baltic and Red Seas.
These incidents have exposed Europe’s limited capacity to repair and maintain its subsea assets, especially in the face of coordinated attacks.
Europe’s security and sovereignty at stake
Beyond the Action Plan highlights growing concerns over the involvement of vendors from “unreliable” countries in Europe’s critical infrastructure. While the US has taken steps to exclude Chinese participation in strategic cable projects, Europe’s scrutiny remains limited.
The risk of foreign interference – either by state or private actors - has prompted calls for closer EU-NATO coordination and stronger public-private partnerships.
And Europe’s repair and resilience capabilities are also under strain. The shortage of specialised vessels and skilled labour, combined with bureaucratic hurdles for cross-border repairs, leaves Europe vulnerable to prolonged outages. Insurance for subsea assets is becoming harder to obtain, with traditional policies often excluding acts of war.
Fragmented regulation and funding
A lack of global standards and fragmented oversight further compounds the situation. While the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides a basic legal framework, there are few binding rules governing modern threats like hybrid warfare.
Within the EU, however, funding streams for cable projects are oversubscribed and lack strategic coordination, while regulatory asymmetries risk undermining European operators’ competitiveness.
Europe needs a holistic strategy
The European Commission’s 2024 Action Plan on Submarine Cable Security marked an important step, focusing on prevention, detection, response, and repair.
The discussion paper is the result of two dedicated roundtables on the future of EU subsea infrastructure policy held in spring 2025, as well as interviews and discussions with policymakers, industry practitioners, and experts.
Vodafone Institute and EPC argue that a more comprehensive approach is needed to address the ownership, funding, cybersecurity, and the resilience of both digital and energy networks.
Among its ten proposals, the discussion paper calls for:
- Designating subsea cables as services of general economic interest, giving the EU greater authority over their governance.
- Expanding and coordinating EU funding sources, including a dedicated Cable Resilience Fund.
- Applying the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) model to cable projects.
- Incentivising consolidation among EU operators to compete with US hyperscalers.
- Championing the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) as a standard-setting body.
- Developing a state-backed insurance model for subsea assets.
- Reinforcing EU-NATO coordination and creating an integrated doctrine for undersea infrastructure security.
As the seabed becomes a new frontier of economic and military rivalry, the paper urges Europe to act decisively to protect its digital and energy lifelines.
It concludes that only by adopting a holistic, coordinated strategy can the EU safeguard its competitiveness, security, and technological sovereignty in an increasingly contested domain.
Read the discussion paper here:
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