Foreign malign influence (FMI) defined as any hostile attempt to alter public opinion at the direction of o foreign government, has posed a challenge to democratic societies - including the European Union - for well over a decade. Authoritarian opponents of democratic institutions can be expected to double down on their efforts to manipulate public opinion via information operations and to influence policies through witting or unwitting allies within targeted states in the coming years.
The MI chapter argues that countering this threat will require the new European Commission to forge a long-term strategic vision that raises the costs of engaging in interference for malign actors, improves societal resilience, devises common counter-FMI policy standards across EU Member States, and ensures more transparent policymaking in the Union. This can be achieved, among other measures, by establishing a multi-disciplinary Resilience Council fully dedicated to improving EU policies and carrying out a complete revision of EU-wide lobbying rules, together with adjustments to the first von der Leyen Commission's Transparency of Interest Representation proposal.
The policy brief Countering Foreign Malign Influence offers recommendations on the priorities that the European Commission should adopt in the area of foreign malign influence. The brief is part of the GLOBSEC consultation project and is included in the publication Pivotal Moment for Europe: Central European Proposals for the Next EU Leadership.
Read the full report and individual chapters below.
