From policy add-on to policy field: A new research agenda for cybersecurity, a new pillar of EU policy

Cybersecurity has become central to the EU's agenda over the past 20 years, not just in terms of security policy specifically, but transversal in its relevance to a range of different EU actions and initiatives. While EU cybersecurity has become the focus of an increasingly diverse set of scholars and disciplines, mirroring the increased prevalence of cybersecurity as a European policy domain, it is difficult as this stage to talk about a ‘European cybersecurity studies’ field. As this chapter will explore, cybersecurity studies in Europe is marked by the lack of a distinct, unifying identity or research agenda, and instead is characterised by pockets of activity that focus on specific disciplinary concerns, whether from the perspective of Law, Sociology, or International Relations, and is largely policy responsive. The purpose of this chapter is to both provide a mapping of the current ‘status quo’ of scholarship in this area, analyse the evolution of the distinct disciplinary strands within this scholarship, and to offer a vision of what a unified and critical field of EU cybersecurity studies could look like. In particular, it suggests increased focus upon common research goals or questions in a way that is independent of policy cycles. Furthermore, it proposes being critical and reflective in questioning the underlying assumptions, both in EU cybersecurity policy as well as EU cybersecurity scholarship, allowing for this field of study to help to inform broader debates about European integration.