Her message was clear: the risks are no longer theoretical. Recent incidents at European airports — involving drones, smuggler balloons and cyberattacks — illustrate how physical, cyber and hybrid threats are increasingly converging. Critical infrastructure has never been more vital — or more vulnerable.

Against this backdrop, no single actor can provide all the answers. Public authorities bring authority, intelligence, legitimacy and accountability, while private security contributes operational expertise, specialised knowledge, innovative technologies and proximity to the field. When these capabilities are effectively combined, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Catherine Piana highlighted several areas where closer cooperation is particularly important. Drones and counter-UAS solutions offer new opportunities for critical infrastructure protection but still face regulatory barriers. Artificial intelligence can support risk analysis, alarm triage and enhanced video surveillance, while requiring responsible deployment, appropriate skills and greater legal certainty. Digital alarm transmission between private Monitoring and Alarm Receiving Centres and public emergency services could also significantly reduce response times.

Yet technology alone cannot create resilience.

CoESS’ work on critical infrastructure protection has identified successful examples of structured public-private cooperation across Europe. Partnerships in ports and airports have demonstrated the benefits of better information-sharing, faster responses and, above all, mutual trust.

However, such cooperation still too often depends on local goodwill and personal relationships. Europe therefore needs to move from patchwork to system, with sustainable partnership frameworks, clearly defined responsibilities, effective information-sharing mechanisms and appropriate quality standards.

This includes the EN 17483 standard series, which establishes quality requirements for private security services protecting critical infrastructure.

Catherine Piana also stressed the importance of procurement policies that recognise the value of quality. When critical infrastructure is at stake, Europe cannot afford a race to the bottom. Quality must prevail over cost, and resilience over price.

Ultimately, strengthening critical infrastructure requires a mindset shift: from transactional relationships to trusted partnerships, from incident response to preparedness, and from silos to systemic resilience.

As Catherine Piana concluded, public-private collaboration is not a soft option. It is a strategic imperative — protecting not only infrastructure, but trust.