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Defence of Democracy package

Briefing 21-02-2024

The initiative results from growing concern that openness of European societies is being exploited for covert interference from foreign governments to manipulate decision-making processes and public opinion in the EU. The impact assessment (IA) clearly defines two problems relating to interest representation activities carried out on behalf of third countries: obstacles to the internal market due to fragmented regulation, and the unknown magnitude, trends and actors of these activities. It considers ...

This analysis explores examples of best practices from selected parliaments in the areas of transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption, and reflects on the effectiveness of the analysed approaches and their possible applicability for the European Parliament (EP). Findings confirm the need for the establishment of an independent European Union (EU) ethics body, granted investigative and enforcement powers with full transparency of enquiries, decisions and/or proposals as a pre-condition ...

This initiative focuses specifically on the issue of economic coercion and the EU's possible response, aiming to preserve the EU's open strategic autonomy and policy-making space. The IA clearly defines the problem, its underlying causes, and the objectives to address it. The creation of a new legal instrument to deter and counteract economic coercion is the only type of option retained for analysis. This presumably follows on from the political commitment made in early 2021 (although this is not ...

Lobbying and foreign influence

Briefing 19-10-2021

Lobbying and foreign influence are normal, integrated activities in modern public policy-making and geopolitics. When these influencing activities are covert or illicit in nature, however, they can be damaging to public image and levels of public trust in our democratic societies and their institutions, including those of the EU. Although not a modern concept, the frequency and extent of covert influence activities by third countries have been increasing since the mid-2010s. In the EU, this has taken ...

The European Union aims to ensure that road transport rules are applied effectively and without discrimination. The current rules governing the access to the international market for coach and bus services appear to have been only partly effective in promoting this mode of transport. There are still differences in rules on access to national markets, differences in openness of national markets, diverse national access arrangements and discrimination in access to terminals in some EU countries. In ...

Trust in political institutions is a key element of representative democracies. Trust in the rule of law is also the basis for democratic participation of citizens. According to the spring 2018 Eurobarometer survey of public awareness of the EU institutions, 50 % of respondents indicated they trust the European Parliament, which represents a 34 % increase since the beginning of the 2014-2019 legislative term. A transparent political decision-making processes has become a common objective to help ...

This report aims to provide insights into the development, since 2016, of the European Commission’s system of Expert Groups, including the Register of Expert Groups, thus updating the European Parliament’s study ‘Composition of the Commission’s expert groups and the status of the register of expert groups’ (September 2015). The Update finds that the European Commission’s revised Horizontal Rules, introduced in May 2016, triggered important improvements in terms of balance of interests, transparency ...

From post-truth to post-trust?

Lyhyesti 25-10-2018

Is the 'very concept of objective truth' fading out of the world, as George Orwell wrote in his Homage to Catalonia in the 1930s? Or is truth even 'dead', as Time magazine asked in 2017? Can we draw clear lines between objective facts, spin and lies? What are the consequences of 'truth decay' for trust, democracy and multilateralism?

New lobbying law in France

Briefing 04-07-2018

Since 1 May 2018, France's new lobbying law is fully implemented. Part and parcel of recent legislation on transparency (Sapin II package), it was adopted on 9 December 2016, providing a regulatory framework for lobbying activities and establishing a mandatory national register ('le repertoire') for lobbyists. In a step-by-step process, first, the repertoire, in which all active interest representatives must sign up, was created on 1 July 2017. After registering by 1 January 2018, interest representatives ...

Revolving doors in the EU and US

Briefing 04-07-2018

The flow of officials and politicians between the public and private sector has in the past few years given rise to calls for more transparency and accountability. In order to mitigate the reputational damage to public institutions by problematic use of the 'revolving door', this phenomenon is increasingly being regulated at national level. In the United States, President Trump recently changed the rules put in place by his predecessor to slow the revolving door. As shown by press coverage, the US ...