Romanian priorities in the run-up to the European elections

romanian priorities in the run-up to the european elections One of the goals of Romania's Presidency of the Council of the EU is to keep the upcoming European Parliament elections free of fake news and disinformation.

The upcoming elections to the European Parliament are one of the most important landmarks of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU. In fact, even before Romania's taking over the 6-month rotating presidency, EU officials informed Bucharest that no less than 257 files were to be debated in only four months, because in May the European political scene would be dominated by the election campaign.


Against this background, one of the priorities of the Romanian presidency is to combat online disinformation. The Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Geroge Ciamba, hopes that an agreement on this topic between the EU institutions will be concluded soon, for the legislative package regulating the European elections to come into force in April. The citizens of the members states must be able to vote freely, without any inference in the election process, Ciamba has stated. That is why combating disinformation is one of the priorities on Romania's agenda, and cyber-security is part of the strategic plan that is to be presented to the EU partners in February. In fact, analysts have long warned that the avalanche of fake news that circulates online is deliberately undermining the credibility of EU institutions and turn the very founding principles of the EU into an object of derision. Beneficiaries of such disinformation campaigns are extremist politicians and parties, be they far-right or far-left, populist, secessionist or just anti-European. George Ciamba:


"We have talked about means of ensuring a better communication about Europe, with the aim of leaving no room for disinformation. We should not forget that such campaigns target the European institutions. We have agreed that Romania's priority is the priority of the European Parliament too, and that our ambition to come up with conclusions in February is a normal and necessary level, because the European Parliament elections are due soon."


Radio Romania's correspondent in Brussels recalls that new rules have already been promoted, allowing financial sanctions against political parties and foundations that abusively use personal data of potential voters, in order to deliberately influence the outcome of the election. Sanctions would stand at 5% of the annual budget of the guilty party or foundation. Moreover, once subject to such sanctions, the said parties would no longer benefit from EU funding the next year. The new regulations, however, can only come into force when officially approved by the European Parliament. 



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Publicat: 2019-01-30 12:47:00
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