20th-22nd OCTOBER 2026
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Catherine Piana

Catherine Piana

  • Director General
  • CoESS Confederation of European Security Services, Belgium

    Catherine Piana is the spokesperson of the private security industry to the EU and international institutions and stakeholders (CoESS since 2014, ASSA-I – Aviation Security Services Association since 2016). She covers a wide range of subjects, including Transport Security (Maritime, Air and Land), AI, Insider Threat, the protection of Critical Infrastructure and Public Spaces. In 2024, she has written several Papers on Public-Private Partnerships, both from the angle of Critical Infrastructure and spaces accessible to the public. Catherine is the Chairperson of the European Committee for Standardisation’s (CEN) TC 439 “Private Security Services”.

    She is also the Managing Director of Help2Protect (e-learning platform on the Insider Threat), a spin-off of the EU-funded project AITRAP.

    A European Public Affairs Consultant by profession, Catherine has been in a leadership position in several trade associations since 1997. A Belgian national, she speaks 6 languages (EN, FR, IT, ES, NL, DE).

    Sessions

    • CoESS Workshop

      Moderator

      Co-hosted by the Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS), this workshop will examine The Role of Private Security in Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure in the Context of Europe’s Preparedness Union

      As Europe strengthens its preparedness agenda, we want to demonstrate that private security is not only a key contributor to resilience but also an essential partner in preparedness, through risk assessment, prevention, operational support, crisis response and business continuity. At the same time, we want to discuss what is still needed to unlock the sector’s full potential, including stronger public-private cooperation, better information sharing and greater integration into preparedness planning.

      Hans DAS (Deputy Director-General and Chief Operations Officer DG ECHO) has accepted to deliver the opening keynote, followed by Marc Léoutre (Deputy Head of Unit DG HOME – Unit D2 Unit D2: Counter-Terrorism, Anti-Radicalisation, Critical Infrastructure).

      We will then have a panel discussion bringing together the perspectives from policy, corporate security and the private security industry. Confirmed speakers include Jean-Philippe Bérillon, the Chair of the CoESS Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee and Yvan De Mesmaeker, Director General of ECSA (the European Corporate Security Association), who will give us the client’s perspective.

    • From Definition to Delivery: Governance, Methodology, and Practical Implementation of NIS2 and CER

      Private Security Impact on Implementation of NIS2 and CER

      This session explores how the translation of policy into practice has developed under NIS2 and CER. There still appears to be a lack of understanding around who is responsible for identifying critical infrastructures in a transnational setting, who is responsible for its security and resilience and which actors are required to report incidents, particularly under the evolving NIS-2 and the CER Directive regimes. We will examine governance models, definitions, and practical methodologies for risk assessment, compliance, and reporting.