On Wednesday 5 July, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an opinion highlighting the role of local and regional authorities in combating disinformation, at its 156th plenary session in Brussels.
The role of the regions
Drawn up by Gustaw Marek Brzezin (EPP, Polish), the report notes that “promoters of foreign disinformation” are exploiting the “divisions among regional and local communities”.
While the text acknowledges the EU’s efforts to integrate the fight against disinformation into various initiatives, it stresses the need to involve local and regional political leaders to a greater extent. This is also one of the requests made in a report adopted by the European Parliament on the development of a “coordinated strategy” to combat foreign interference and disinformation (see EUROPE 13192/6).
Proposals for action
The CoR opinion proposes practical solutions for local elected representatives, national governments and the EU.
In particular, the text recommends granting more resources to local authorities to combat disinformation, including by exploiting “opportunities under EU programmes such as CERV and Horizon Europe”.
To strengthen the resilience of local and regional authorities, the opinion recommends that they be more closely involved in the EU’s awareness-raising campaigns and analysis of this phenomenon, while at the same time training local elected representatives and equipping local administrations with cybersecurity tools. It also calls for “the support of EU and national institutions, developing and launching a pilot model for systemic responses to disinformation campaigns and incidents”.
At the same time, the CoR wants to raise public awareness, in particular by making media education and critical thinking a priority. Similarly, the opinion stresses the need to support local media, in particular through financial support.
Finally, the text looks at the integrity of the electoral process, asking, among other things, for local representatives to be involved in the European Cooperation Network on Elections.
See the opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/7x2
And the amendments (adopted except 6, 11, 18, 19 and 20): https://aeur.eu/f/7x9
Defending democracy
Present at the CoR plenary session, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Věra Jourová, and the Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Interference, Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D, French), also agreed on the need to involve all levels of government.
“There can be no strong European democracy without strong local democracy”, summed up the MEP.
The European Commissioner also mentioned the future package for the defence of democracy. Announced for June, it has finally been postponed until autumn 2023. At issue: the concerns expressed by civil society regarding a future directive introducing common transparency standards for interest representation services directed or financed by third countries (see EUROPE 13162/11, 13174/27). (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)