In the margins of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on ICT (OEWG) in July 2022, the EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative organised two working breakfasts on cyber norms in cooperation with the EU delegation to the UN.
Following the period of norm development in the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) and the establishment of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG), international community has seen three different approaches to the discussion about norms and principles of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace: norms implementation, norms adaptation and contestation, and proposals for development of new norms. As such, these meetings aimed to take a critical look at each of these approaches and their relevance for strengthening the framework of responsible state behaviour and then contributing to prevent conflicts in cyberspace. The breakfasts also sought to propose possible ways to further consolidate and operationalise the like-minded coordinated approach in the current cyber norms debate.
The first breakfast, held on 26 July aimed to clarify different states’ perceptions of how international norms function in global governance, and take a comprehensive view of cyber norm implementation as a strategic process of shaping the meaning and application of cyber norms. The second breakfast, held on 27 July and jointly hosted by the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations considered how to achieve a more localised form of cyber norms implementation that strengthens the global framework of responsible state behaviour while making it more effective and inclusive.
