All European political parties will sign on Tuesday (9 April) to a set of code of conduct rules, brokered by the European Commission, as part of broader efforts to shield June’s EU elections campaign from foreign interference and disinformation, writes EURACTIV.

“Sources confirmed that the far-right ID group, which includes the French Rassemblement National and German AfD, joined the initiative at the last minute on Monday.

The agreement, brokered by the Values and Transparency Commission vice-president Věra Jourová in the Berlaymont, is part of the Commission’s defence of democracy package and seeks to protect the EU’s elections from foreign interference and disinformation. Though it adds another layer of protection to the electoral campaign, implementation and monitoring remain the responsibility of the European parties.

All parties have pledged to “proactively avoid amplification of narratives lead by entities and actors outside the EU other than member parties, especially when those seek to erode European values”, the document reads.

The text’s release follows the Qatargate scandal and, most recently, the Russiagate scandal, allegedly involving a member of the AfD, as well as Members of the European Parliament. However, the commitments outlined in the code of conduct do not apply to national parties, which steer the campaign on the ground. The guidelines will only affect the communications from the umbrella European parties, which include the left, socialists, centre right, liberals, conservatives, greens, and far-right.

According to the mediator in the negotiations appointed by the Commission, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), parties demanded to ease monitoring requirements, arguing they lack the administrative capabilities to enforce the code of conduct upon their national member parties and affiliated organisations.

“We had to make a couple of changes to accommodate that administrative capacity that a lot of these parties just felt was a lot to ask for,” Sam van der Staak, Director for Europe at IDEA, told Euractiv.

Instead, European parties can only advise their national members to sign up for the code of conduct”, - reads the article.