Michael McGrath has 'daunting' EU roles in security and rule of law
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New EU commissioner Michael McGrath has “demanding and daunting” roles in terms of protecting the security and laws of the union, security experts have said.
Mr McGrath, appointed this week as the new Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law, has a broad-ranging brief, including very sensitive areas on security.
The first brief — under the category of Protecting our Democracy — is set out in a ‘mission letter’ sent to him by the President of European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. It includes:
- Lead a new European Democracy Shield to address the “most severe risks to democracy” in the EU;
- Step up the EU’s fight against “foreign information manipulation and interference” and improve the ability to detect, analyse and counter threats;
- Develop responses to disinformation, improve digital literacy and prevention of disinformation through “pre-bunking”;
- Preserve the fairness and integrity of elections, including transparency of interest groups working on behalf of countries outside the EU;
- Protect the safety of political candidates and elected representatives “who face mounting threats to their security and undue pressure”
- Implement European Media Freedom Act and protect independent media and journalists, including from “abusive law suits”
These are in addition to duties under the categories of Rule of Law and Justice, with the former including judicial independence, anti-corruption and media freedom as well as upholding rights and values.
Under Justice, he is tasked with devising a strategy on digital technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), as well as enforcing GDPR.
Professor of Politics at DCU, Donnacha Ó Beacháin said: “Arguably, there’s nothing more important than protecting the core democratic values of our societies from attack.
He said the internet and social media have enabled a disinformation revolution and claimed that disinformation “is an integral part of Russia’s war on Europe”.
Prof. Ó Beacháin said: “The Kremlin has proven adept at identifying political and social divisions to exploit. It does this to polarise European societies.
“Elections provide an excellent opportunity for Russia to help promote and amplify extreme narratives to undermine trust in democracy, rule of law, and national institutions.” He said the era of AI and ‘deep fakes’ was only beginning and will be “hugely challenging” for European electorates.
The second brief in the mission letter is ‘Strengthening the rule of law’ — which has received most media attention in the last week. This is because it relates to ongoing tensions and disputes between the European Commission, and many member states, with the rule of law in Hungary under its hard-right leader President Viktor Orban.
In her letter, Ms von der Leyen told Mr McGrath that he is responsible for co-ordinating work on the four pillars of the Rule of Law Report, namely: judicial independence, anti-corruption, media freedom and other institutional checks and balances.
The Cork South Central deputy is tasked with following up on the “implementation” of these pillars with member states and will support member states “to resolve” rule of law-related issues.
“You will ensure effective enforcement where appropriate and support effort for a reinforced application of the Article 7 mechanism,” Ms von der Leyen instructed.
This is a special mechanism, detailed in the Treaty of the European Union (TEU), that can have “far-reaching implications” in the case of an EU country that does not respect the fundamental values of the TEU, including the rule of law.
In addition, distribution of EU funds will be dependent on anti-corruption measures being met.
Mr McGrath is also responsible for monitoring the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Ben Tonra, Professor of Politics at UCD, said: “While not the portfolio the Government had its heart set on, it is however a really, really important one and puts him at the sharp end of some very tough discussions both with some member states, eg Hungary, and several major global actors.”
He said his brief is “both a substantive and serious portfolio” and one, he said, which has real world consequences for the health of European democracy.
Professor of European Politics at Maynooth University, John O’Brennan, said the most important part of Mr McGrath’s commissionership is the rule of law.
“The Commission is known as the ‘Guardian of the Treaties’ — a reflection of its importance to protecting the values laid out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union,” he said.
“The von der Leyen Commission (like its predecessor) has abjectly failed in this task — the rule of law is being ritually abused in Hungary and Slovakia. The Commission has done far too little to protect against degradation of the rule of law, and because it failed so badly on Hungary and Poland, Slovakia is now putting the ‘Orban playbook’ into action in Bratislava.”
Prof. O'Brennan added: "There may be some promise in the new democracy instruments but most of this looks decorative and performative to me. The real force here within the Commission will be Hanna Virkkunen who will have responsibility for tech sovereignty.
“Certainly, Michael McGrath could carve out an important role but it is likely this will be by forging a good relationship with colleagues like Virkunnen in what are somewhat cross-cutting portfolios.”