Meeting on Tuesday 13 January at the European Parliament for the Global Europe Forum, organised by the Renew Europe political group, elected representatives, experts and representatives of civil society questioned the European Union’s ability to protect its democracies in the face of interference that is becoming permanent, inexpensive and mainly digital. The ‘European Democracy Shield’, presented by the Commission in November (see EUROPE 13750/4), was thus considered to be politically necessary, but still operationally fragile.
Moderating the panel, journalist Teri Schultz reported on the global decline in freedoms, the growing pressure on elections, the weakening of independent media and the spread of disinformation campaigns.
In her view, the erosion of democracy is no longer the result of sudden ruptures, but of a gradual erosion of informational space, which is consolidated by digital platforms and the new technologies for manipulation.
The Chair of Parliament’s Special Committee on the Democratic Shield (EUDS), Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, French), agreed, and stressed the changing nature of the threats.
Foreign interference is no longer a simple “hybrid threat”, but an organised attack, often carried out by non-state actors via deepfakes, fake accounts and coordinated online campaigns.
She deplored the fact that the European response was too slow and lacking in coordination. And she called for a much more rigorous application of existing law, in particular the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act.
According to the French MEP, the EU’s credibility would be enhanced if the Commission were to be more transparent with Parliament about the investigations carried out against the major platforms.
Outgoing President of Georgia in October 2024, Salomé Zourabichvili shared her country’s experience.
The European Union is said not to have fully measured its political responsibility following the granting of candidate status to Georgia.
In her view, Russia has developed a strategy of using democratic instruments such as elections, the media and social networks to weaken states from within, a method that is less costly and less risky than direct military intervention.
Marietje Schaake, an associate researcher at Stanford’s Centre for Cybernetic Policy and the Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence, sounded the alarm about Europe’s technological dependence.
While regulation remains essential, it will not be enough without an ambitious industrial and geopolitical strategy aimed at building European digital infrastructures.
Platforms are now the very infrastructure of economies, defence systems and democracies.
At the end of the discussions, the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, presented the ‘European Democracy Shield’ as a global response to protean threats that will protect the information space, the integrity of elections and support for free and independent media.
Referring to the creation this year of a European Centre for Democratic Resilience, he noted that the defence of democratic values had to go hand in hand with that of security, in an international context marked by lasting instability. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)