The European Commission has presented the European Democracy Action Plan to counter internal and external threats to democracy that have developed in recent years.

The European Commission has presented a legislative proposal to increase the transparency and democratic accountability of interest representation activities aimed at influencing policies, decision-making processes, and democratic space on behalf of third countries. This proposal aims to promote free, fair, and resilient elections and the participation of citizens and civil society organizations in policy-making.

The Eurobarometer Report, which was published last December indicated that 81% of Europeans believe that foreign interference in European democratic systems is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Adding to this concern, other main concerns for EU citizens in the context of the elections in Europe are related to people basing their voting decision on disinformation (78%), followed by elections being manipulated through cyberattacks (72%), foreign countries influencing elections covertly (70%) and people being pressured into voting in a particular way (65%).

Today’s proposal for harmonized rules aims to ensure a common high level of transparency and democratic accountability across the EU about lobbying campaigns, as well as similar activities, performed by entities on behalf of a third country government.

The proposal foresees the following transparency requirements:

• Registration in a Transparency Register: entities carrying out interest representation activities on behalf of a third country will have to register in a transparency register. Member States will be asked to establish or adapt existing national registers for this purpose.
• Public access: key elements of the data on such interest representation activities will be publicly available, allowing for transparency and democratic accountability. This relates, for instance to the annual amounts received, the third countries concerned and the main goals of the activities.
• Record keeping: entities carrying out interest representation activities on behalf of a third country will be required to keep records of the key information or material related to the interest representation activity for four years after the end of this activity.

The proposal includes proportionate rules and safeguards to avoid registration requirements being misused to limit fundamental rights, such as the freedoms of expression or of association, or to unduly restrict the civic space, namely:

• Independent supervisory authorities will be empowered to request limited records in duly justified cases only and proportionately;
• Authorities need to ensure that no adverse consequences arise from registration;
• Possibility to derogate from the publicity of information in duly justified cases;
• The full harmonization under the proposal prevents Member States from maintaining or introducing additional requirements and practices.

With this proposal, the Commission seeks to contribute to setting standards, not only in the EU but also on a global scale, on how to address foreign influence in a streamlined and proportionate way, fully respecting fundamental rights.

Strengthening Electoral Processes in the EU

Today’s Recommendation on inclusive and resilient electoral processes in the Union and enhancing the European nature and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament aims to promote high democratic standards for elections in the EU, supporting high voter turnouts, inclusive participation, and making it easier to exercise one’s electoral rights. The Recommendation also addresses the protection and cybersecurity of election-related infrastructure and proposes measures to minimize risks of interference from third countries through the funding of political parties, political foundations, campaign organizations and candidates. A free and fair democratic debate relies on legality and fair play. The Recommendation stresses that surveillance tools should never be used to interfere with the democratic debate and deploying such tools to target political actors and journalists for political gain is unacceptable.