A man enters the hearing room as the Public Inquiry into Foreign Election Interference resumes in Ottawa, Sept. 16.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
A senior official of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, says she is looking to Canada’s foreign-interference inquiry for lessons that may be helpful to the EU.
Vera Jourova, vice-president of the European Commission for values and transparency, said she was eagerly anticipating a discussion with Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, the head of the inquiry, to better understand where Canada is on the issue.
The Czech-born politician has spoken out against Russian disinformation, but she said in an interview in Ottawa that action against foreign interference cannot be based on speculation.
“We have to work with very precise and reliable data and assessment of what’s going on,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important for me to understand where Canada is, how the investigations are ongoing, and what might be the results.”
In particular, she said she was interested in a deeper understanding of the sources of information Canada has at hand on who is behind concrete cases of interference, and its impact in influencing public opinion.
She said that she thought the inquiry was in good hands “because I think the justice system in Canada has a high level of trust from citizens.” Justice Hogue is a judge of the Court of Appeal of Quebec.
Michael Tansey, a senior communications adviser with the foreign-interference commission, confirmed the meeting.
“The Commission is in the process of identifying experts and contributors for the policy phase of its work and is consulting broadly for this purpose. The Commissioner and members of her team met with Ms. Jourova and her team in this context,” he said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Ms. Jourova’s responsibilities, according to the European Commission’s website, include ensuring the commission’s democratic system is protected from external interference, and co-ordinating an action plan to address external intervention in EU elections.
The former regional development minister for the Czech Republic, who has held her current position since 2019, is also charged with supporting work to counter disinformation and fake information, while preserving freedom of expression, freedom of the press and media pluralism.
The Hogue inquiry was launched in the fall of 2023 to look into foreign interference by China and other hostile states, including potential impact on the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Public hearings began in January and are expected to proceed through this year.
Ms. Jourova said she has found Canadian inquiry disclosures about interference actions by China and India to be of particular interest.
“For us, it’s a new area. We are mainly affected by Russian propaganda, and Russian disinformation,” she said.
Ms. Jourova said Europe has been grappling with an escalating effort by Russia to decrease public trust in democratic governance and replace current leaders with those willing to co-operate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She also said she found federal legislation enacted in June to counter foreign interference through measures such as the establishment of a mandatory influence registry to be “inspiring” for tracking funding by foreign entities to influence public opinion.
She said the commission has detected efforts by China to influence public opinion and decision-making through the financing of public-relations events, lectures and conferences.
She said she has proposed legislation akin to Canada’s in Europe, “but it has had a difficult legislative life.”
She said Canada, member states of the European Union, the United States, Britain, Japan and Australia should co-operate more closely on interference efforts from what she described as “the non-democratic world.”
Such action, said Ms. Jourova, could include common actions to fortify electoral systems, critical infrastructure and public space.
“This is not business as usual anymore. We have strong adversaries,” she said.