Universities and civil society express concerns about the European Commission’s Defence of Democracy Package

On 12 December 2023, the European Commission published its Defence of Democracy Package. This is a highly welcome step, as democracy is a key value that must be supported.

However, the idea of a register of entities that are deemed to carry out interest representation for foreign countries because they receive non-EU funding risks being harmful to certain entities. This is the case for universities, which are by their nature globally connected. Such a register could become a tool to delegitimise and control universities and NGOs.

For this reason, EUA and Civil Society Europe call on the European institutions to abandon this particular initiative while retaining other, positive parts of the Defence for Democracy Package.

Open letter_EU co-legislators must block the covert foreign interference law