The European cooperation network on elections set up by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12094) for the European elections in May met for the second time on Wednesday, 27 February. On Thursday, 28 February, Member State representatives also prepared for a simulated cybersecurity incident that is scheduled for April.
During the meeting, the contact points designated by Member States and other participants considered several concrete approaches to ensure free and fair elections, reports the Commission.
In particular, participants reportedly stressed that transparency requirements should not only focus on political parties but also election campaign organisations, civil society organisations, and paid ‘influencers’ on social media.
The idea of involving citizens in monitoring the application of electoral rules was also reportedly put forward. For example, Latvia set up an application that allows its citizens to report electoral rule violations they have witnessed directly to the public authorities.
The discussions also focused on national rules for election campaigns and their financing. Currently, just under half of Member States have rules regarding the transparency of paid advertising and political communications. But only five countries, including Germany and France, have specific rules for social media.
With regard to financing, most Member States reportedly have rules setting limits on the total financing of election campaigns and providing for the verifiability of election expenses, but the definitions of what constitutes campaign financing differ and do not necessarily apply to the online context.
“Differences between Member States should not create loopholes for potential malicious actors to try to interfere in and manipulate elections, especially to the European Parliament in 2019”, warned European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová at the meeting.
On 4 March, the Commissioner will review the rules on online advertising with representatives from online platforms. She will also meet with the European Ministers of the Interior on 7 March regarding the security of the elections. The European cooperation network on elections will meet again on 4 April. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)