The European Commission and protecting domestic elections
EU Member States have called on the EC to take steps to protect elections from foreign interference
Daniela Budu, 30.01.2025, 13:50
As efforts are building up to influence elections in the Member States, several EU countries, including France, Germany and Romania, have called on the Commission to take measures to protect elections from foreign interference. “Recent incidents require the urgent adoption of joint actions aimed at protecting the upcoming elections in the European Union,” reads a letter signed by 12 member countries.
They warn against the growing threat to the stability and sovereignty of EU members, coming from foreign interference in the election process and public debates. They call on the Commission to use its powers under the Digital Services Act to safeguard electoral processes in the Member States. The document binds social media platforms to moderate and remove harmful content that includes hate speech, racism and xenophobia. According to Reuters, EU diplomats said that the call refers in particular to countries such as Russia and China, but to other actors as well.
In December, the EC launched an investigation targeting the Chinese platform TikTok, suspected of not having taken measures to restrict foreign interference in November’s presidential elections in Romania.
On the other hand, at the end of the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, stressed the importance of protecting the integrity of elections, in particular from foreign interference.
The EC believes that addressing this issue is an urgent matter, and says it is committed to strengthening Europe’s resilience to foreign threats to democratic processes in member states. In addition, the Commissioner added, the Commission will take into account the cancellation of the presidential elections in Romania when it draws up its 2025 report on the rule of law.
It is also worth noting that the Venice Commission recently published a report on the cancellation of the presidential elections in Romania by the Constitutional Court at the end of last year. Its recommendations are that such a decision should not be based exclusively on classified information, which does not ensure the required transparency, but should indicate precisely the violations and the evidence for them. In addition, the power of the Constitutional Court to invalidate the elections should be limited to exceptional circumstances and clearly regulated, the Commission also says.
Meanwhile, in Bucharest, the government has set the electoral calendar for the forthcoming elections. The first round of the presidential elections in Romania will take place on May 4, 2025, and voting abroad will take place over three days, between May 2 and 4. If no candidate gets more than half of the votes, a second round will be held on May 18, between the top two candidates. (AMP)
