In response to growing concerns over spyware abuse, the European Parliament established the PEGA committee in 2022. The committee’s task: investigate the deployment and abuse of spyware technologies such as Pegasus across EU member states. Over the course of its mandate, PEGA uncovered systemic misuse of surveillance tools by governments against their own citizens.

The final PEGA report, adopted in 2023 by the European Parliament, detailed alarming cases of unlawful surveillance in Poland, Spain, Greece, and Hungary. The report concluded that these cases often had no legitimate national security justification and served instead to intimidate, discredit, or silence dissent.

Despite the seriousness of the findings, no meaningful follow-up has occurred. Neither the European Commission nor the implicated Member States have taken steps to implement the committee’s recommendations.

Early 2025 brought new developments: Italy became the latest EU country embroiled in a spyware scandal. Journalists and humanitarian activists working in the field of sea rescue operations were found to have been surveilled. Although a parliamentary inquiry was launched, the findings were inconclusive and contradictory, adding further confusion rather than clarity.

The use of spyware today threatens not just individual rights, but the very foundation of democracy. It poses risks to journalism, activism, trade unions, and the confidentiality of governmental operations. Without swift and decisive action, the EU risks normalising surveillance abuse as part of its political landscape.

The Left has sounded the alarm. The question now is whether EU leaders will finally act, or allow spyware to become a permanent feature of European society.