Strengthening the resilience of democracies against risks of foreign interference has become a priority for many OECD Member countries. While these risks are not new and have long been addressed by the intelligence community, globalisation, the rise of digital technology and more open and participatory approaches to governance have greatly increased the possibilities for interference and destabilisation of political systems. Democracies are particularly vulnerable because of their greater openness and transparency. In recent years, numerous cases of interference illustrate these trends, including electoral interference, disinformation campaigns, political financing and concealed lobbying activities.
Given the multi-faceted and co-ordinated nature of this threat, there are a number of measures governments can adopt to counter it. France already has a solid legal and institutional framework for dealing with the risks of foreign interference from a variety of angles. However, as some recent parliamentary reports have highlighted, this framework still needs to be consolidated. Among the priorities for reform identified in these reports are improving transparency on the links between natural or legal persons operating in the public arena and carrying out influence activities on behalf of foreign state interests and imposing tighter controls on public-private mobilities.
Under its Reinforcing Democracy Initiative, the OECD is assisting the High Authority for transparency in public life (Haute Autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique – HATVP) in reflection on how to strengthen the transparency and integrity of foreign influence activities. This report identifies concrete actions, adapted to the French context, to ensure foreign influence activities are transparent, to discourage foreign interference attempts through opaque lobbying activities, and to ensure that the control of public-private mobility takes better account of this risk.
The analysis and recommendations in this report are based on interviews with French public officials responsible for public integrity and national security issues and academics, as well as exchanges with international peers in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The report is also based on the OECD's work on foreign interference and standards such as the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity and the OECD Recommendation on Principles of Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying.
By considering the recommendations put forward in this report, France will be able to better identify the risks of foreign interference and strengthen the transparency of public life.
This report was approved and declassified for publication by the OECD Public Governance Committee via written procedure on 19 April 2024 and prepared for publication by the Secretariat.