This study examines the European Union’s 2018 Cyber Defense Policy Framework in an attempt to uncover how the issue of cybersecurity is framed in the 2018 CDPF and how that is problematic for the proposed solutions. 

The theoretical framework of this research is based on the Copenhagen School’s Securitization theory (Buzan et al., 1998) and Baldwin’s (1997) constructivist account of the concept of security. The study further incorporates Laura Fichtner’s (2018) theoretical as well as analytic approach. 

By employing a qualitative content methodology, the single embedded critical case study divides the analysis into four main categories, which were derived from the theoretical propositions. These categories are 1) referent object; 2) securitizing actors; 3) threats; and 4) responses. The findings of the research support the view that cyberspace is examined as a militarized domain. Even though there are two referent objects, EU citizens and critical infrastructures, the proposed solutions are primarily in the hands of military actors. 

The study confirms previous research on cybersecurity and Securitization, where scholars claim that precisely the combination of referent objects allows policymakers to insert their position, which in this case is embodied by EU specialized military and police units who use this as a reason to navigate security in individual-collective and economic-political terms.