On Wednesday, 29 January, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) exchanged views on the proposal for a directive that aims to introduce harmonised requirements on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries.
“The idea is to create a system that aims to ensure transparency of interest representation activities carried out on behalf of a third country”, explained Pascale Piera (PfE, French), the rapporteur for the opinion. Presented in December 2023 (see EUROPE 13312/15) as part of the ‘Defence of Democracy’ package, this directive mandates the creation of national registers and the establishment of independent authorities responsible for ensuring its enforcement.
During her presentation, Pascale Piera highlighted the contradiction between the objective of combatting foreign interference and the desire to facilitate these entities’ integration into the single market.
She asked, “Do we want to combat interference, or do we need to prioritise the single market?” She also pointed out the risk of downwards harmonisation, believing that Article 4 of the directive could “penalise countries that currently have the highest standards in this area”.
On the shadow rapporteurs’ side of things, Axel Voss (EPP, German), standing in for Polish MEP Michał Wawrykiewicz, advocated ensuring “a level playing field for businesses within [the] EU” so as to avoid unfair competition. “Transparency is fundamental. We need to understand who is [re]presenting whose interests and for what purpose,” he declared.
José Cepeda (S&D, Spanish) reiterated that 81% of Europeans consider foreign interference to be a major problem and called for rules to be harmonised to ensure better supervision.
Dainius Žalimas (Renew Europe, Lithuanian) supported this, affirming, “[We] need an effective mechanism in responding to the challenges posed by the interference of entities [from] third countries.”
Representing the European Commission, Marie-Hélène Boulanger (Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers) defended the proposal, reminding [MEPs] of “the importance of transparency” in open democracies and reiterating that this directive is based on existing standards in several Member States.
The draft opinion will be presented on 17 March. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)