CSA2 Article 105: The Exemption Route for Non-EU BESS Suppliers
CSA2 would create a permanent "high-risk supplier" framework in the EU. Article 105 offers an exemption route — here is what credible evidence looks like.
The EU's Cybersecurity Act 2 (CSA2) is now in trilogue, with political agreement targeted for early 2027. For non-EU equipment suppliers — including BESS manufacturers — it represents a step change: a permanent framework for designating "high-risk suppliers" across NIS2 sectors, enabling full market restrictions and fines of up to 7% of global turnover.
Most coverage stops there. The more useful story is buried in the draft: Article 105, the exemption route.
How the exemption works
Even where a supplier's home country receives a blanket high-risk designation, an individual supplier can apply for exemption — provided it supplies clear evidence that effective mitigating measures are in place, such that no realistic possibility of undue third-country interference exists. The Commission then assesses that evidence within nine months.
Three words carry the weight: evidence, effective, and assessment. This is not a declaration form. It is a documentation-and-architecture exercise.
What credible evidence looks like
Based on the draft language, three themes stand out:
Documented governance. Who can access which systems, under whose jurisdiction, with what audit trail — written down, verifiable, current. Ring-fenced European operations. Service delivery, data flows and system access structurally separated from the home-country organization and held inside the EU. Who commissions your systems, where O&M data lives, and who holds remote access are no longer operational details — they are your regulatory defense file. Verifiable, not declared. A nine-month Commission assessment will outlast any paper commitment. Structures survive scrutiny; statements do not.
The strategic window
Designation lists do not exist yet. Suppliers who build ring-fenced European operations now will approach any future designation with a ready-made evidence file. Those who wait will restructure their supply chains under the pressure of frozen market access. The difference in negotiating position is hard to overstate.
BessRe operates as an EU-based service layer for BESS manufacturers in the Benelux — local commissioning, maintenance and RMA delivered from Belgium. This article summarizes draft legislation still under negotiation and is not legal advice.