Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 16 April 2019 - Strasbourg

Protecting the integrity of the European elections, with particular regard to international threats to cybersecurity (debate)

  Danuta Maria Hübner, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, I would also like to thank both the Council and the Commission for the strong commitment visible here in what they said to us. For us, elections are an important element of democracy. Compromised cybersecurity in elections can lead to the loss of confidence in the electoral system, in democratic processes and in leadership. Europeans are increasingly aware and worried about all aspects of electoral security. A recent Eurobarometer survey showed that 61% were concerned about possible manipulation of the European elections via cyber—operations.

To fight against cyber—threats and ensure that the cyber—environment is safe we need a society—wide approach as well as international cooperation. In this context, amending European regulations on the statute and financing of European political parties and foundations, aiming at protecting the electoral process from online disinformation campaigns based on misuse of voters’ personal data, introducing financial sanctions on European political parties or foundations that infringe data protection rules deliberately to influence or attempt to influence the outcome of European elections, as well as the Commission’s actions to build strong cybersecurity in Europe, support and awareness at the level of the Member States, all that can help citizens to make their political choices in fair, secure and transparent elections.