Highlighting impact – Joint efforts that helped shape the European Commission’s Defence of Democracy package

International IDEA’s collaborative efforts with partners such as the European Partnership for Democracy, have significantly influenced the formulation of the European Commission’s Defence of Democracy package. This success is marked by a series of impactful joint initiatives conducted throughout 2022 and 2023: 

• Breakfast Discussion on objectives and scope: a critical session held on 15 December 2022 to outline the essential objectives and comprehensive scope of the EU’s Defence of Democracy package.

• Joint Letter to the European Commission: on 23 February 2023, a collective letter was addressed to the European Commission by 12 pro-democracy organisations and research centres, reflecting unified priorities and suggestions regarding the objectives and scope of the package.

• Submission of Joint Priorities Paper: on 31 March 2023, 46 organisations working in the field of democracy and human rights submitted a paper with joint priorities and recommendations to the EU online consultation on the package, covering a wide range of topics to defend democracy from foreign interference and from within.

• Joint Response Letter from European Commission leaders: on 27 September 2023, European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, Vice-President Dubravka Šuica, and Commissioner Didier Reynders responded to the Joint Letter and Priorities Paper with a letter in which they emphasized their joint commitment to defend democratic values, announcing an upgrade of consultations and Impact Assessment on the Directive and validating the collective contributions. The Commissioners reiterated their support for a strong and enabled civic space as an indispensable component of resilient democratic and plural societies.

Breakfast Discussion to present and deliberate the package:  nearly 50 partners were convened on 14 Dec 2023 to discuss the 3 key initiatives of the Defence of Democracy package and share their priorities in the run-up to the European elections in 2024. Read more about the Breakfast discussion and analysis of the Defence of Democracy package by International IDEA and partners here.

A press conference was held by the European Partnership for Democracy and Transparency International on 27 November 2023 to clarify the concerns on the side of civil society organisations regarding the planned Directive on foreign interest representation.

Many of the recommendations and advocacy priorities that were submitted to the European Commission are reflected in different components of the Defence of Democracy package that was adopted on 12th of December 2023:

On codes of conduct for fair and transparent campaigning: The Recommendation on resilient elections encourages the conclusion of codes of conduct and pledges for fair campaigning and includes detailed guidelines for suggested topics. 

On international cooperation for elections: The Recommendation on resilient elections encourages national election networks to enhance their cooperation to counter threats including by exchanging best practices in the framework of the European Cooperation Network on Elections. 

On participatory and deliberative democracy in Europe: In the Recommendation on Civic Space and Effective Participation, Member States are encouraged to introduce citizen-led participatory and deliberative exercises and consult citizens in the policy-making process. 

Additional joint recommendations and topics that have been included in the Defence of Democracy package are: 

• broad scope of the package, including legislative and non-legislative measures

• fostering active citizenship

• civic education, critical thinking skills, and digital literacy training 

• funding for initiatives to promote participatory processes (the Recommendation encourages Member States to dedicate funding to it instead of promising EU funding)

• strengthening the participation of young people in democracy

• promoting ethical political campaigning

• supporting exchange of practices between EU Member States

• promoting in cybersecurity in elections, including for political parties

• improving transparency of EU decision making and related citizen feedback

Conclusion

Overall, the two Recommendations of the Defence of Democracy package were well received, and various organisation shared their intention to work on specific topics captured in the package ahead of the European elections. Mixed feelings however overshadow the proposed Directive on foreign interest representation as some important recommendations have failed to be adopted by the Commission. An EU Interest Representatives register covering all interest service representatives in the Union and addressing both internal and external funding would protect European democracy from interference while safeguarding civic space in Europe more effectively. 

Article written by Marilyn Neven and Alisa Schaible (Carlo-Schmid Fellow and Trainee, Regional Europe Programme)