In the margins of the second round of the Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes (30 May - 10 June 2022), EU Cyber Direct – EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative, together with the European Commission and the Delegation of the European Union to International Organisations in Vienna, hosted two meetings with several country representatives to discuss key issues at the heart of a possible new cybercrime treaty.
A luncheon meeting was held on 31 May with delegates from African countries, while on 1 June representatives from Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean convened for a breakfast meeting. On both occasions, negotiators from the European Union presented its position on topics covered in this negotiation round - notably general provisions as well as criminalisation, procedural measures, and law enforcement clauses of a potential future convention - and engaged in a dialogue with delegates from 28 countries, who also shared their views on these issues in a future cybercrime convention.
As this is the first time the UN Member States are negotiating a binding legal framework on cybercrime, the stakes are high on the scope and impact this work will have in regulating online activity and shaping international criminal justice cooperation in the digital era. It is therefore critical to facilitate informal dialogues to help advance the formal process constructively by enabling further exchanges to clarify positions and identify converging issues.
