The report of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on foreign interference (INGE 2), led by Sandra Kalniete (EPP, Latvian) and released in early January 2023, calls for more to be done in the fight against foreign interference in the EU.
As the European Parliament is rocked by ‘Qatarargate’, this report calls for a “coordinated strategy” against foreign interference.
Denouncing in the strongest possible terms Qatar’s alleged attempts to influence through bribery, the report explains the need to intensify efforts to combat corruption and influence campaigns.
It reiterates the European Parliament’s call for updated transparency rules, a mapping of foreign funding for EU-related lobbying and proper regulation and monitoring of ‘friendship groups’. The report recommends that a specific section on foreign influence be included in the EU transparency register or that a foreign influence register be established.
Ms Kalniete also proposes the creation of an EU-funded ‘Centre for Information Integrity’ to increase knowledge of the situation regarding Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). It should serve as a reference point to facilitate and encourage exchanges between Member States’ authorities.
The report calls for collective efforts to raise awareness of foreign interference and how to counter it, including from online platforms. It states that the EU should intensify its strategic communication on information manipulation by widely reporting on ongoing operations as they occur.
Ms Kalniete proposes as well to move from a country-agnostic approach to a high-risk states approach based on objective criteria, similar to what is done to combat money laundering. She also reiterates the European Parliament’s call for costs to be imposed on foreign meddlers.
While welcoming the latest legislative steps to protect critical infrastructure and strategic sectors, Ms Kalniete said recent attacks, such as the sabotage of critical infrastructure and the increase in cyberattacks, show the need for more ambitious legislation, calling on the Commission to come forward with additional, strengthened proposals.
The report also proposes to exclude the use of equipment from manufacturers in high-risk countries “such as Huawei, ZTE, Kaspersky, Nuctech, etc.”.
According to the paper, the EU should tackle cyberattacks taking into account the necessity for increased responsiveness and resilience, the need for flexibility in critical situations, the need for common regulations to ensure effective coordination and the need to share information between and within Member States while taking into account the necessity to mask the critical level of protection of public information sharing.
Finally, the report calls for increased cooperation with non-EU countries to counter FIMI.
The first debate on the report will be held on 12 January, before a vote in committee in April and adoption in plenary in May.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/4T1 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)