8. Conclusion

In 2000, France strongly supported the Common Criteria initiative. For several years, it wanted to make them the sole criterion for recommending security products for public procurement.

However, national imperatives led it to set up a parallel product recommendation procedure, in order to exclude foreign products, and this is how qualification came about. Nevertheless, in keeping with its commitment to promoting the Common Criteria, qualification relies on the latter for product assessment.

The CSPN was introduced a year ago, as the qualification procedure was proving too costly and time-consuming. The CSPN has the double advantage of being fast and inexpensive, and its scope is strictly national, which avoids attracting foreign products to apply for this certificate. It remains to be seen whether France possesses sufficient technological...