more prominent as a result of the geopolitical tensions, and that is cyber risk. cyber threats are increasing, including to the european economy and european payments. some countries are carrying out sophisticated cyber - attacks. today, a quarter of cyber - attacks worldwide affect the financial sector. these can be direct attacks on financial institutions - including payment service providers - or indirect threats via external parties that financial institutions depend on. for example, an attack on a third party - such as a telecom provider or a cloud provider - could disrupt the services of one or more payment service providers, affecting the payment system. in addition, a large - scale disruption of payment services can damage confidence in the payments system as a whole. to make sure we are ready for a crisis, payments service providers should create and maintain comprehensive business continuity plans that outline procedures for maintaining operations during and after a crisis. regular testing and drills are essential to ensure all employees are familiar with the contingency measures and can execute them effectively. ongoing training and awareness programmes help employees understand the importance of security and stay updated on the latest threats and best practices. and investing in resilient technology and infrastructure is crucial for withstanding attacks and disruptions. please prepare your organisations for such scenarios, be aware of your important role in the european payments system and, where possible, actively participate in european crisis management structures. ending with the strategic autonomy issue, i think finding solutions for it is a two - way street. european policy makers should continue to cherish innovation and competition, the forces that so impressively lifted our payments market out of the stone age. that means recognising the indispensable role played by non - bank payment service providers like you, either eu or non - eu. at the same time, the non - eu parties among you should start discussing with your headquarters and governments on how to avoid extra - territorial effects of government policies. because we don't want to go back in time. we don't want the'ding dong'of the local bank queuing system. we want the'bleep bleep'of easy, cheap, and always available payments. that's the future of an ever more innovative european payments market. we should not want it otherwise. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches

. many of these companies are represented here today. millions of european citizens use your payment services daily. you are quick to adopt new technologies and offer modern payment solutions like mobile wallets, online peer - to - peer payments, smart and relatively cheap currency conversion and instant transfers. also as a result of your competitive strength, banks too improved the quality and efficiency of their online payment services to customers. of course, markets can only be truly fair and competitive if there is a level playing field. that's why we at the dutch central bank strive towards applying the well - known principle of " same activity, same risk, same rule " across the payment sector. as the 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches most recent step in creating a level playing field in the eu's payment market, the eurosystem will allow regulated non - banks to access central bank operated payment systems such as t2 and tips. in short, at the dutch central bank we appreciate the important role of epif members in the payments market. and we appreciate the active role epif plays in european payment forums like the euro retail payment board. but things can also get too flashy and innovative, so it was a wise decision by epif to invite someone from a central bank to balance things out. and being the dinosaur in the room, maybe i'm the right guy to address the elephant in the room. because there is an elephant here, and it's called strategic autonomy. over the past years, the world has changed dramatically. rivalry between the big economic blocs has increased. and there is a major war raging on the european continent that has heightened international political tensions. geopolitical tensions that translate into economic fragmentation and protectionism. of all the major economies, europe is the most exposed to these shifts. remember our dependence on russian gas at the outbreak of the war in ukraine. likewise, we import over 80 % of our digital technology. personally i find navigation an impressive example. all the navigation equipment in europe uses gps infrastructure which is run by the us army. without gps, google maps or the navigation in your car is completely useless. there are many more examples where europe is heavily dependent on the policies of other countries for the provision of strategic goods and services. in the current political climate, it is understandable that european governments see this dependence as a strategic vulnerability that needs addressing. that's why strategic autonomy is a priority for the european commission. it also featured prominently in the speech