European Parliament rapporteur on the ‘European Democracy Shield’, Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish), said on Wednesday 10 June that the European Commission proposal – presented last November (see EUROPE 13750/4) – does not go far enough to respond to campaigns of foreign interference and disinformation.
Two weeks before the vote in the special committee on the ‘European Democracy Shield’ (EUDS), he called, during a press briefing, for stronger European operational capacities against hybrid threats.
According to the MEP, Russia is pursuing two main objectives. On the one hand, expanding its territory, as illustrated by the war waged against Ukraine. On the other, weakening Europe by dividing its societies and exerting influence over democratic processes. He cited the Romanian presidential election, the German federal elections, debates on Sweden’s accession to NATO, and future political consultations in Iceland as examples of foreign influence operations.
And while he welcomed the initiative presented by the European Commission on the ‘European Democracy Shield’, Tomas Tobé nevertheless considered that it “is not ambitious enough”.
In his view, the European Union must go beyond an approach based essentially on analysis and coordination. “We must move beyond a situation in which we analyse and assess Russian disinformation and other hostile actors. We must act more decisively, including at European level”, he said.
The own-initiative report currently being negotiated in the European Parliament therefore proposes strengthening the future European centre dedicated to combating foreign interference.
Tomas Tobé wants this structure to have its own legal basis, dedicated resources and representation of all Member States in its governance. He also argued for a regular assessment of national capacities, which he considers to vary greatly from one country to another.
On digital regulation, the MEP came out against adopting new legislation. In his view, the main issue now lies in the effective implementation of the texts already adopted, notably the Digital Services Act (DSA). “Rather than inventing, we should implement”, he said.
Moreover, the MEP rejected the idea that the measures envisaged would amount to an infringement of freedom of expression.
He considered that coordinated campaigns conducted by automated networks linked to foreign actors did not fall within democratic debate. “The Saint Petersburg ‘troll’ farms and computer bots, is that really freedom of expression? I have come to the conclusion that it is not”, he said.
Asked about criticism voiced in the United States against the DSA, notably by the owner of the social network X, Elon Musk, the rapporteur defended the European Union’s right to enforce its own rules. He supported the procedure launched by the European Commission against platform X and considered that large digital platforms needed to do more against non-genuine accounts and coordinated information manipulation campaigns.
The text should be put to a vote in the EUDS special committee on 23 June, before consideration in plenary expected in the autumn. Tomas Tobé said he had secured the support of the S&D, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA groups, but specified that he did not expect support from The Left group or from several far-right groups. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)