European Democracy Shield and EU Strategy for Civil Society pave the way for stronger and more resilient democracies

The Commission has presented today the European Democracy Shield, setting out a series of concrete measures to empower, protect, and promote strong and resilient democracies across the EU. An open civic space is at the core of our democracies, and this is why the Commission has also put forward an EU Strategy for Civil Society, for stronger engagement, protection and support to civil society organisations who play essential roles in our societies. Both initiatives had been outlined in the political guidelines and this year’s State of the Union address by President von der Leyen.

The European Democracy Shield and the EU Strategy for Civil Society present measures to protect the key pillars of our democratic systems: free people, free and fair elections, free and independent media, a vibrant civil society and strong democratic institutions.

President von der Leyen said: “Democracy is the foundation of our freedom, prosperity, and security. The European Democracy Shield will reinforce the core elements that allow citizens to live our shared democratic values every day – free speech, independent media, resilient institutions, and a vibrant civil society. This is Europe’s strength and we must increase our collective capacity to protect it at all times.”

European Democracy Shield
The actions under the European Democracy Shield will further boost our collective capacity to counter information manipulation and disinformation and strengthen our resilience through a whole-of-society approach. The European Democracy Shield will present actions across three main pillars: 1) safeguarding the integrity of the information space; 2) strengthening our institutions, fair and free elections, and free and independent media; and 3) boosting societal resilience and citizens’ engagement.

An important deliverable from the European Democracy Shield will be a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience to bring together EU and Member States’ expertise and resources to increase our collective capacity to anticipate, detect and respond to threats and build democratic resilience. With Member States at its core, the Centre will act as a framework to facilitate information sharing and support capacity building to withstand evolving common threats, in particular foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) and disinformation.

Supported by and in close coordination with the Rapid Alert System run by the European External Action Service, the Centre will link together existing networks and structures.

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Source: European Commission