At their Council meeting in Brussels on Monday 29 January, the European Affairs ministers of the EU Member States discussed the ‘defence of democracy’ legislative package.
This package, aimed at increasing the transparency of interest representation activities carried out on behalf of third countries, was presented last December (see EUROPE 13335/28). The proposal includes a directive encouraging Member States to keep national registers to ensure this transparency and to designate independent authorities to oversee their application.
The main purpose of this meeting was to initiate an initial ministerial discussion to guide the intensive work planned in the EU Council working group (see EUROPE 13337/22).
Hadja Lahbib, Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, Foreign Trade and Federal Cultural Institutions, representing the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, opened the debates by stressing the importance of evaluating the implementation of the ‘Action Plan for Democracy’ adopted in 2020, which introduced essential measures to combat disinformation and strengthen media freedom and pluralism.
She emphasised that the main objective of this proposal was to establish “harmonised requirements” for transparency concerning the representation of interests from third countries.
Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Values and Transparency, reiterated the need for this legislation. She affirmed that the European Union must remain a strong and resilient democracy, particularly in the face of external threats.
The ministers from the Member States expressed a number of concerns, including the need to strike a balance between combating foreign influence and preserving fundamental rights, such as freedom of association. They also asked about the harmonisation of regulations within the EU and their potential impact on existing national systems.
Fernando Sampedro Marcos, Spain’s Secretary of State, spoke of the importance of making existing initiatives in this area visible. German minister Anna Lührmann drew attention to the risks of creating false transparency.
Sweden and Luxembourg emphasised the challenges of introducing new regulations, with Luxembourgish minister Xavier Bettel emphasising the need to strike a balance between efficiency and administrative burden. Swedish minister Jessika Roswall pleaded to avoid disproportionate burdens on citizens and civil society organisations, while the Polish minister, Adam Szłapka, called for a “thorough analysis” of the impact on civil society. Slovenian Secretary of State Marko Štucin, meanwhile, expressed doubts about the directive’s practical effectiveness, given the possibility for certain entities to “hide” their controversial activities.
The Finnish minister, Anders Adlercreutz, stressed the importance of not “weakening” existing national legislation on transparency. Marilena Raouna, the Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs, referred to Cyprus’ recent efforts to regulate lobbying activities.
Concluding the discussions, Věra Jourová acknowledged the need to “work further” on the proposal, taking into account the different situations and concerns of the Member States. She highlighted the need to strike an appropriate balance between “harmonisation” and respect for “national particularities”, while avoiding any unnecessary “administrative burden”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)