On October 28, 2022, DEMAS, together with 33 other civil society organizations, joined an open letter to Mikuláš Bek to express deep regarding the Presidency’s compromise text on the Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising (COM(2021)0731) and the risks that it poses to democracy and fundamental rights in Europe
We see specific risks in the following proposals:
a) The proposed text (a) dangerously mischaracterises the mere expression of
political ideas and civic engagement as political advertising;
(b) establishes a sanctions regime that applies to sponsors of political advertisements on ambiguous grounds; and
(c) delays absolutely necessary measures to ensure the integrity of electoral processes in the EU and makes them conditional on evaluation and review exercises, including on restrictions on the use of personal data and transparency of political ads.
You can read the full letter in both the Czech and English versions here.
Further DEMAS opinions and statements can be found at this link.