Belgium (Brussels Morning newspaper) The Renew Europe Group expressed its support for the adoption of recommendations by the European Parliament’s Special Committee on foreign interference in democratic processes, disinformation, and the strengthening of integrity, transparency, and accountability in the European Parliament (ING2). The group emphasized the need for a comprehensive and robust strategy to effectively tackle foreign interference and safeguard European democracy.
MEP Bart Groothuis (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, the Netherlands), the Renew Europe shadow rapporteur on the report, emphasized the importance of Europe’s political will and power to combat foreign interference and disinformation. He highlighted the need for a risk-based and country-specific approach to address the persistent threat emanating from a specific group of high-risk states. Groothuis stressed the significance of continuous and vigilant efforts from all stakeholders in countering the gradual breakdown of democracies.
MEP Nathalie Loiseau (Délégation l’Europe Ensemble, France), the Renew Europe coordinator of ING2, drew attention to the ongoing hybrid war waged by authoritarian regimes against European democracies. She warned that foreign interference attempts were increasing and adopting increasingly diverse methods. Loiseau asserted that these attempts sought to undermine the democratic and pluralist model, fracture societies, and sow division to weaken the EU. She called for a citizen-based, multi-level response that would expose attacks on democracies, limit vulnerabilities, and preserve freedoms.
Renew Europe Group reiterated its call on the European Commission to adopt a single overarching policy strategy to effectively tackle foreign interference. The group emphasized the need for strong measures, including sanctions against agents attempting to manipulate or damage European democracy. The strategy, according to Renew Europe, should adopt a risk-based approach and explicitly address persistent violators such as Russia, China, and Iran. Furthermore, the group proposed enhancing the EU’s strategic communication capabilities and promoting threat intelligence sharing among Member States.
Highlighting the importance of combating disinformation, Renew Europe emphasized the need for sufficient financial support for fact-based journalism and countering disinformation in traditional media. The group pointed to Twitter’s recent decision to withdraw from the EU’s voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation as evidence of the urgency in addressing these challenges. Renew Europe called upon the EU to take measures to counter disinformation effectively and to hold individuals and entities, including public figures like Elon Musk, accountable for their actions.
The European Parliament has already adopted a report by the INGE committee, which proposes several key measures to safeguard democratic processes. These include a ban on donations to political parties and politicians from outside the EU, stricter rules on political advertising, the labelling of deep fakes on social media, and the establishment of a new sanction mechanism against cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns. Renew Europe Group emphasized that the tools to address these threats are already in place, and now it is crucial to implement them effectively.
The adoption of these recommendations by the European Parliament represents an important step forward in countering foreign interference and disinformation in the EU. Renew Europe Group urges Member States and the European Commission to take swift and decisive action to safeguard European democracy, protect the integrity of democratic processes, and promote transparency and accountability at all levels.
In the face of ongoing threats, Europe must demonstrate unity and resilience, with a determined effort from all stakeholders to ensure that foreign interference and disinformation campaigns do not undermine the foundations of our democratic societies.
