How to watch the Committee on European Democracy Shield (special committee) (EUDS)

Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting EUDS Gender Equality Week

MEP Q&A: EU enforcement, legal tools and victim protection

Michał Wawrykiewicz and 2 others

MEPs question the practical use of DSA and AI rules, the effectiveness of nudifier bans, the need for further legislation and criminal law, profit incentives, and legal definitions, while experts emphasise enforcement, treating gendered disinformation as gender-based violence, and focusing on harms to victims.

In this chapter

1. MEP questions: EU tools, enforcement and profit driversMichał Wawrykiewicz
2. Schulz and Scheele: enforcement focus and evidence systems
3. Question on definition of ‘woman’ and impact-focused responseNathalie Loiseau

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Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting EUDS Gender Equality Week

Expert evidence: gendered deepfakes, democracy risks and EU gaps

Nathalie Loiseau Renew

Experts Schulz and Scheele detail the scale and gendered nature of pornographic deepfakes, their democratic and security implications, specific exposure of women in politics, and identify shortcomings and priorities in EU regulation, enforcement, and data systems.

In this chapter

1. Schulz: deepfakes, erosion of reality and scale
2. Schulz: women’s exposure and EU regulatory gaps
3. Schulz: five concrete EU-level policy measuresNathalie Loiseau

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Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting EUDS Gender Equality Week

Opening: agenda, Gender Equality Week and threat framing

Nathalie Loiseau Renew

The Chair opens the meeting, adopts the agenda and minutes, relays the President’s Gender Equality Week message, and frames the hearing on gendered disinformation and AI deepfakes targeting women in public life as a hybrid threat issue.

In this chapter

1. Opening of meeting and agenda adoptionNathalie Loiseau
2. President Metsola video: Gender Equality Week message
3. Chair Loiseau: framing gendered disinformation threatNathalie Loiseau

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Extraordinary meeting

Irish Presidency: Shield report assessment and Resilience Center

Thomas Byrne

Minister Byrne outlines the Presidency’s endorsement of the Democracy Shield report, describes the early functioning and membership of the European Center for Democratic Resilience, and presents draft Council conclusions on inclusive participation, political safety, the Center’s legal status, funding constraints in the MFF and limits regarding QMV for sanctions.

In this chapter

1. Byrne statement I: assessment of Shield report and Center for Democratic ResilienceThomas Byrne
2. Byrne statement II: inclusive participation, center’s status, funding and QMVThomas Byrne

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Extraordinary meeting

Berset Q&A II and handover to Irish Council Presidency

Juan Fernando López Aguilar and 4 others

A second round of questions probes overlap between the Pact and the Shield, fact‑checking and NGO moderation practices, Western Balkans cases, FIMI funding and speech safeguards, after which Loiseau closes the exchange and introduces Irish European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne to present the Council Presidency’s work on the Democracy Shield and democratic resilience agenda.

In this chapter

1. Second Q&A with Berset: coordination, fact‑checking, Balkans, resourcesJuan Fernando López Aguilar
2. Transition: closing Berset exchange and introducing Irish PresidencyNathalie Loiseau

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Extraordinary meeting

Berset Q&A I: Russia, platforms, migration and democratic safeguards

Tomáš Zdechovský and 4 others

MEPs question Berset on Russian interference, platform power, transparency of NGOs and bots, and ECHR implications for migration, prompting replies on crisis‑driven erosion of trust, limits of European leverage over Big Tech, and reaffirmation of free expression, pluralism and the Convention system including in the Western Balkans.

In this chapter

1. MEPs’ first questions to Berset: Russia, platforms, NGOs and migrationTomáš Zdechovský
2. Berset reply I: crisis sequence, acceleration and tech limits
3. Berset reply II: free expression, migration letter and Balkans

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Extraordinary meeting

Opening and introduction of Council of Europe Democratic Pact

Nathalie Loiseau Renew

Chair Loiseau opens the meeting, adopts formal items and introduces Secretary General Alain Berset, who sets out the rationale, values and legal‑policy architecture of the Democratic Pact for Europe and its links with the EU’s Democracy Shield and forthcoming pan‑European FIMI instrument.

In this chapter

1. Opening, agenda adoption and introduction of BersetNathalie Loiseau
2. Berset: rationale and core values of the Democratic Pact
3. Berset: complementarity with the Shield and FIMI legal instrumentNathalie Loiseau

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Q&A with Norway: DIMI/FIMI, platforms, algorithms and civic literacy

Eszter Lakos and 5 others

MEPs ask about differentiating domestic and foreign manipulation, auditing platforms, engagement‑based ranking and the role of libraries, schools and independent centres; Norway responds on its trust‑based culture, DSA uptake, safeguards for arm’s‑length governance and the central role of libraries and reading strategies in media literacy.

In this chapter

1. Q&A to Norway: DIMI vs FIMI, platform transparency and independenceEszter Lakos
2. Q&A to Norway: algorithms, engagement ranking and civic participationFabrice Leggeri
3. Norway’s responses: trust culture, DSA uptake and role of libraries

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Norway’s national strategy on disinformation resilience

Vasile Dîncu S&D

The Chair introduces Norway’s minister and questions on EU law and education, while the minister presents Norway’s 2025–2030 strategy, its constitutional basis for safeguarding public discourse, five priority areas, and Norway’s support for EU regulatory frameworks and European democratic cooperation.

In this chapter

1. Introduction of Norwegian minister and questions on EU law and educationVasile Dîncu
2. Norway: strategic framework and five priority areas
3. Norway: international cooperation and principles for resilient democracies

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Co‑chair’s strategic conclusions on disinformation and AI

Nicolás Pascual de la Parte PPE

The Co‑Chair closes the first hearing block by defining disinformation as a permanent instrument of war, particularly for Russia, and calls for EU‑level capabilities, proactive narrative projection, major investment in disruptive technologies and a common political protocol across member states.

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

MEP Q&A with experts: safeguards, offensive posture and legal tools

Vasile Dîncu and 9 others

MEPs question experts on neural warfare safeguards, EU offensive capabilities, data poisoning, limits of open societies, paid covert influence, education, legal bases for disruption and infrastructure vulnerabilities, with replies stressing preemption, platform duties, mapping adversary networks and embedding digital literacy in education systems.

In this chapter

1. MEPs’ first Q&A round: AI poisoning, offensive posture, and open-society limitsVasile Dîncu
2. MEPs’ second Q&A round: paid influence, education and legal basis for disruptionMārtiņš Staķis
3. Experts’ replies: preemption, neural microtargeting and platform duties
4. MIT expert: offensive disruption, mapping actors and education

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Expert briefings: AI geopolitics, manipulation and regulation

Nicolás Pascual de la Parte PPE

NATO StratCom and MIT experts outline the geopolitical AI power race, structural EU vulnerabilities, the shift to machine‑layer manipulation and neurodata risks, recent AI‑enabled influence operations, and propose regulatory and operational responses including a high‑risk AI influence category and offensive disruption of hostile networks.

In this chapter

1. NATO StratCom: geopolitical context and AI power race
2. NATO StratCom: EU overregulation and investment dilemmas
3. NATO StratCom: curation layer, synthetic audiences and neurodataNicolás Pascual de la Parte

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Opening of meeting and hearing mandate

Vasile Dîncu and 1 other

The Chair and Co‑Chair open the joint hearing, adopt the agenda, set out the committee’s mandate on the future information environment, and frame AI‑driven manipulation as part of a broader hybrid threat against European democracy.

In this chapter

1. Opening of meeting and agenda adoptionVasile Dîncu
2. Chair: risks of AI and information manipulationVasile Dîncu
3. Co‑chair: hybrid war, AI trilemma and call for concrete proposalsVasile Dîncu

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Commission: Democracy Shield and enlargement framework

Vasile Dîncu and 4 others

Commissioner Kos presents the Democracy Shield, resilience tools and their extension to candidate countries, followed by MEPs’ questions and his clarifications on public support for enlargement, civil society funding and accession conditionality, including the Serbia and Hungary–Ukraine minority rights files.

In this chapter

1. Commissioner Kos: Democracy Shield and candidate countriesVasile Dîncu
2. MEPs’ second Q‑round: enlargement, minorities, mediaVasile Dîncu
3. Citizen support, civil society funding and accession conditionalityMarta Kos

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

AI Overviews and media pluralism risks

Vasile Dîncu and 3 others

Presentation by Professor Lucchi on how Google’s AI Overviews affect media revenues, competition and pluralism, with MEPs probing economic harm, impact on local outlets and possible DMA‑based remedies modelled on the UK CMA to safeguard publishers’ choice and funding.

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Algorithmic polarization: JRC ‘Fractured reality’ hearing

Vasile Dîncu and 7 others

The Chair introduces the JRC’s ‘Fractured reality’ report on algorithm‑driven polarization in the context of DSA/DMA enforcement and a potential European Centre for Democratic Resilience, the JRC outlines how attention‑economy platforms fracture the information space and proposes EU‑level policy tools, and MEPs probe structural disinformation risks, transparency, data access and alternative governance models for platform power and democratic resilience.

In this chapter

1. Chair: introduction of JRC ‘Fractured reality’ itemVasile Dîncu
2. JRC expert: fractured reality diagnosis and policy options
3. Q&A with JRC: platform-driven disinformation and democratic resilienceVasile Dîncu

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

EU counter‑drone threats: JRC briefing and MEP scrutiny

Vasile Dîncu and 6 others

The committee opens with an institutional framing of drones under the EU hybrid threats mandate, hears the JRC’s overview of counter‑drone work and planned Centre of Excellence, and then MEPs question the JRC on lethal autonomy, civil‑military links, intelligence gaps, testing regimes, EU versus national competences and dependencies on non‑EU technology within existing legal and budget limits.

In this chapter

1. Opening and EU counter‑drone policy frameworkVasile Dîncu
2. MEP Q&A with JRC: threats, autonomy, capabilities and testingSandro Ruotolo

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Resumption of sitting and launch of voting

Nathalie Loiseau and 1 other

After a suspension, the committee resumes to verify quorum and handle a procedural challenge from MEP Dömötör on excluded Patriot amendments, prompting the Chair’s defence of EP voting rules and rapporteur Tobé’s political framing of the report, before testing the electronic system and starting votes on compromise amendments.

In this chapter

1. Resumption: Roll‑call, substitutes and point of orderNathalie Loiseau
2. Chair’s procedural defence and rapporteur’s political framing
3. Electronic test vote and start of compromise votes

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Q&A Round 2: Early warning, hybrid migration and financial flows

Vasile Dîncu and 3 others

A second sequence of questions focuses on an EU‑level early‑warning system, possible terrorist listing of the Muslim Brotherhood, hybrid use of irregular migration by neighbouring states, radicalization of second‑generation migrants, criminal proxies and crypto‑based financing, with Brunner detailing support against disinformation, scrutiny of Muslim Brotherhood listing initiatives, migration diplomacy tools, Europol’s innovation and ‘follow the money’ mandate, and concluding the exchange before the vote.

In this chapter

1. Q&A Round 2: Early warning, Muslim Brotherhood listing and hybrid migrationVasile Dîncu
2. Chair’s questions: Criminal proxies, crypto and judicial trainingStefano Cavedagna
3. Commissioner follow‑up: Disinformation support and Muslim Brotherhood listing debate

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Q&A Round 1: Terrorism, disinformation and civil liberties

Nathalie Loiseau and 4 others

First round of questions sees EPP, S&D, Hungarian and Polish Patriot, Greens and ESN MEPs probe how the Democracy Shield will tackle political Islamism, foreign funding networks, stochastic terrorism and Russian influence, while warning against mission creep, censorship and overreach into national security, with Commissioner Brunner responding on Muslim Brotherhood financing, DSA enforcement, Europol’s real‑time intelligence sharing and the operationalization of the internal security strategy and migration reform.

In this chapter

1. Q&A Round 1: EPP and S&D prioritiesNathalie Loiseau
2. Q&A Round 1: Patriot and sovereignty concernsCsaba Dömötör
3. Q&A Round 1: Greens and ESN on terrorism and influence networksNathalie Loiseau

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Opening, agenda and strategic context

Nathalie Loiseau Renew

The Chair opens the special committee, adopts the agenda and sets the scene for the upcoming Democracy Shield vote, followed by Commissioner Brunner’s introductory statement outlining the Protect EU strategy, the European Democracy Shield, and planned reforms to Europol and prevention tools as core elements of EU internal security and democratic resilience.

In this chapter

1. Opening of meeting and agenda adoptionNathalie Loiseau
2. Commissioner: EU democracy and security threats
3. Commissioner: Europol mandate, data access and prevention
4. Commissioner: Democracy as security asset

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Democracy 27 mandate: tools, rule of law and disinformation

Juan Fernando López Aguilar and 4 others

From the Chair’s opening and Jourová’s presentation of Democracy 27 and the European democracy toolbox through to an extensive Q&A with MEPs on the European Centre for Democratic Resilience, DSA enforcement, fact‑checking neutrality, spyware, rule of law instruments and Jourová’s legitimacy and role during COVID‑related disinformation, ending with her consolidated replies on these points.

In this chapter

1. Opening and Jourová’s Democracy 27 mandate
2. Q&A I: EU instruments, platforms and free speechJuan Fernando López Aguilar
3. Catch‑the‑eye MEPs: Rule of law, spyware and Democracy 27Cristian Terheş

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Special committee on the European Democracy Shield Ordinary meeting

Transition from Bulgaria FIMI to academic freedom

Vasile Dîncu S&D

The Chair closes the Bulgaria FIMI agenda point and, linking foreign interference with democratic resilience, introduces the new item on restrictions to academic freedom in the EU and presents the Academic Freedom Monitor and invited experts.

In this chapter

1. Closure of Bulgaria item and transition to academic freedomVasile Dîncu
2. Chair’s framing and introduction of Academic Freedom MonitorVasile Dîncu

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