A special committee set up to scrutinise Michael McGrath’s Democracy Shield has issued a critical report on its effectiveness.
The European Commission launched the idea for the Democracy Shield back in 2024. It has become central to Ireland’s European Commissioner who was tasked with getting the shield up and running.
The idea of the shield is to put in place systems to protect democracy – including elections – across the European Union from foreign interference, disinformation, and hybrid threats.
But in its landmark report, the European Parliament special committee warned that the current proposals “lack teeth”.
“The reaction-baiting algorithms of social media turn us into toys of Putin and the far right,” said Dutch Green MEP, Kim van Sparrentak.
“Now, the [European] Commission must turn the Democracy Shield into a real instrument, instead of a neighbourhood watch chat group. That means creating an independent and well-funded Centre for Democratic Resilience, with a clear mandate, teeth, enough staff and proper parliamentary oversight,” she said.
The centre-right EPP group has been equally scathing.
“Protecting democracy from foreign interference must be a European priority. We must respond with greater determination and reinforce the European Democracy Shield. Russia remains the most serious threat to the integrity of our democracies. Its continued attempts to influence elections and manipulate the information space show that the Kremlin sees democratic resilience as a threat to its own interests,” says Tomas Tobé MEP.
The liberal Renew Europe group, which includes Fianna Fáil, Michael McGrath’s party, was only slightly more positive.
“The European Parliament took the Commission’s lukewarm communication and turned it into an actionable report with teeth and clarity,” said Helmut Brandstaetter MEP.
“We will continue oversight of the Commission’s work and make sure that European democracy, infrastructure, elections are not left to the whims of foreign adversaries, but have necessary safeguards to protect us and deterrents to make adversaries think twice before attacking the EU.”
The special committee report has been backed by the full European Parliament in a vote in Strasbourg today.
As the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath holds primary responsibility for developing and leading the European Democracy Shield.