Exposing EU election interference

The report, The Managed Ballot: The EU’s Playbook for Shaping National Elections, argues that Brussels is no longer a neutral bystander in domestic democratic processes, but an increasingly active architect of the political conditions in which elections unfold.

Produced by the Democracy Interference Observatory (DIO) a project of MCC Brussels, the study maps what it describes as a “multi-layered system of indirect control”-combining financial leverage, regulatory pressure, digital governance tools, and EU-funded civil society networks.

Rather than overt intervention, the report points to a subtler model: one that operates “below the threshold of formal electoral control,” yet cumulatively shapes political outcomes.