Brussels, Dec 4 (IANS): The European Union (EU)'s Telecommunications Ministers approved measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the bloc, including a new directive, Slovenian Minister for Public Administration Bostjan Koritnik has said.

Addressing a news conference after a meeting of the ministers on Friday, Koritnik said the proposal aims to further improve the resilience and incident response capacities of both the public and private sector and the EU as a whole, Xinhua news agency reported.

Once adopted, the new directive aimed at strengthening cybersecurity, called "NIS2", will replace the current rules on security of network and information systems.

"The new NIS directive will play a crucial role in strengthening cybersecurity in our increasingly digitalised world, where cyber threats may have unprecedented implications on society, the economy and democracy," Koritnik said in a statement.

Progress has also been made on the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act. The draft regulation aims to promote the development and uptake across the single market of safe and lawful artificial intelligence (AI) that respects fundamental rights.