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1. The Community shall contribute to the mission of the Competence Centre and the Network set out in Article 3 and shall enhance, share and disseminate cybersecurity expertise across the Union.

2. The Community shall consist of industry, including SMEs, academic and research organisations, other relevant civil society associations as well as, as appropriate, relevant European Standardisation Organisations, public entities and other entities dealing with cybersecurity operational and technical matters and, where relevant, stakeholders in sectors that have an interest in cybersecurity and that face cybersecurity challenges. The Community shall bring together the main stakeholders with regard to cybersecurity technological, industrial, academic and research capacities in the Union. It shall involve national coordination centres, European Digital Innovation Hubs, where relevant, as well as Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies with relevant expertise, such as ENISA.

3. Only entities which are established within the Member States shall be registered as members of the Community. They shall demonstrate that they are able to contribute to the mission and shall have cybersecurity expertise with regard to at least one of the following domains:

(a) academia, research or innovation;

(b) industrial or product development;

(c) training and education;

(d) information security or incident response operations;

(e) ethics;

(f) formal and technical standardisation and specifications.

4. The Competence Centre shall register entities, at their request, as members of the Community after an assessment made by the national coordination centre of the Member State in which those entities are established to confirm that those entities meet the criteria set out in paragraph 3 of this Article. That assessment shall also take into account any relevant national assessment on security grounds made by the national competent authorities. Such registrations shall not be limited in time but may be revoked by the Competence Centre at any time if the relevant national coordination centre considers that the entity concerned no longer fulfils the criteria set out in paragraph 3 of this Article or falls under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation, or on justified security grounds. Where membership in the Community is revoked on security grounds, the decision to revoke shall be proportional and reasoned. The national coordination centres shall aim to achieve a balanced representation of stakeholders in the Community and actively stimulate participation, in particular of SMEs.

5. National coordination centres shall be encouraged to cooperate through the Network in order to harmonise the way in which they apply the criteria set out in paragraph 3 and the procedures for assessing and registering entities referred to in paragraph 4.

6. The Competence Centre shall register relevant Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies as members of the Community after carrying out an assessment to confirm that that Union institution, body, office or agency meets the criteria set out in paragraph 3 of this Article. Such registrations shall not be limited in time but may be revoked by the Competence Centre at any time if it considers that the Union institution, body, office or agency no longer fulfils the criteria set out in paragraph 3 of this Article or falls under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.

7. Representatives of the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies may participate in the work of the Community.

8. An entity registered as a member of the Community shall designate its representatives to ensure an efficient dialogue. Those representatives shall have expertise with regard to cybersecurity research, technology or industry. The requirements may be further specified by the Governing Board, without unduly limiting the entities in the designation of their representatives.

9. The Community, through its working groups and in particular through the Strategic Advisory Group, shall provide the Executive Director and the Governing Board with strategic advice on the Agenda, the annual work programme and the multiannual work programme, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Governing Board.