On Wednesday 23 September, French S&D MEP Raphaël Glucksmann was elected chair of the special committee on foreign interference in all of the EU’s democratic processes.
He will be assisted by Spanish EPP Javier Zarzalejos. The two men were the only candidates for their positions. The rest of the committee could not, however, be elected because of a lack of female candidates. The election is expected to take place after the next plenary session, scheduled for 5-8 October.
“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the other forms”. Glucksmann began his inaugural speech with this quote from Winston Churchill.
The MEP recalled that “in recent years, European democracies have been the target of coordinated attacks from outside, aimed at weakening our institutions and subverting our public debate. We simply no longer have the right to be naive”. Although he highlighted the interference from state and para-state actors who fund political parties or campaigns or carry out cyber-attacks, Glucksmann did not mention China or Russia at any point in his speech.
When the media ask him about this omission, Glucksmann explained that the two countries in question would be at the core of the committee’s work, but that other countries might also be involved. “Creating a systematic approach that focused on those two countries alone would be a mistake; we will deal with any attempt to destabilise democratic processes in Europe”, he said.
During its one-year remit, the special committee will meet with the services working on the issue, including the security services and will then “assess the current position with regard to threats”, i.e. carry out an “evaluation”, said the MEP. The committee will then put forward “tools to defend our democracies, tackle threats, and improve the framework for democracy and debate in Europe”. “I think that our committee will not just propose defensive measures, but preventative measures as well, such as: how we fund independent media, and civic and political education for European citizens”, he added.
The special committee does not intend to waste any time. It will meet again on Thursday 24 September to meet with Nathalie Tocci, Special Advisor to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Lutz Güllner, Head of the Strategic Communications and Analysis Division of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Vilmos Hamikus, Head of Sector in the EEAS for combating hybrid threats and José Morgado, Director of the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre (INTCEN). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)