EU's 'Defence of Democracy' debate on combatting foreign influence

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we debate the EU's latest attempt to combat foreign influence with its forthcoming "Defence of Democracy package," which some in Brussels claim could result in unintended consequences. POLITICO's Suzanne Lynch speaks to the European Commission’s special adviser on foreign interference, Ivana Karásková, a Czech academic and expert on Chinese influence. She provides insight into the degree of foreign influence in the European Union. She also explains the rationale behind a specific piece of this package, which is causing concern, particularly among NGOs: potential rules that would subject civil society organizations to report if they receive funding from third-country donors. Then we're joined by Sarah Wheaton, POLITICO's chief policy correspondent and author of our EU Influence newsletter, and Nicholas Aiossa, deputy director and head of policy and advocacy at Transparency International EU. They dig into the concerns that this package will have unintended consequences for European democracy — and discuss what better tools the Commission could consider with an eye on better transparency in EU advocacy and lobbying. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:07.2	We need to better shield ourselves from aline interference.
1:15.1	And this is why we will present a defense of democracy pact. It will bring forward covert for an influence. It will shed the light on shady funding. We will not
1:25.4	allow any autocracies Trojan horses to attack our democracies from within.
1:30.3	That's European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,
1:34.3	addressing the European Parliament back in September in her annual State of the Union address.
1:39.3	Today we all see that we must fight for our democracies.
	...

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