New European Democracy Shield
The Commission has launched the European Democracy Shield, setting out a series of concrete measures to empower, protect, and promote strong and resilient democracies across the EU, on 12 November 2025. 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.
The European Democracy Shield and the EU Strategy for Civil Society present measures to protect the key pillars of Europe’s democratic systems: free people, free and fair elections, free and independent media, a vibrant civil society and strong democratic institutions.
The actions under the European Democracy Shield will boost collective capacity to counter information manipulation and disinformation and strengthen resilience through a whole-of-society approach.
Actions are re-grouped across three main pillars:
- Safeguarding the integrity of the information space
Strengthening the integrity of the information space is essential for democracy. This focuses on tackling foreign information manipulation and online interference, as well as improving digital and media education. This will be done through the Digital Services Act, an independent European Network of Fact-Checkers to reinforce fact-checking capacity, and the European Digital Media Observatory to monitor electoral integrity during elections or in crisis situations. - Strengthening our institutions, fair and free elections, and free and independent media
While the organisation and conduct of elections are the competence of the Member States, strengthened cooperation at EU level is necessary to address common challenges in this field. The Commission will present a guidance on the safety of political actors and responsible use of AI in electoral processes.
Reinforced financial support for independent and local journalism and recommendations on the Safety of Journalists will be provided under the new Media Resilience Programme, which will bridge current support to media with funding programmes proposed in the new Multiannual Financial Framework. - Boosting societal resilience and citizens' engagement
To help recognise and counter information manipulation, the Commission will roll out measures to foster media and digital literacy for all ages. The Commission will develop an EU citizenship competence framework along with guidelines to strengthen citizenship education in schools.
It will also support citizens' engagement in democratic life through participatory and consultative tools, with a focus on local levels and youth, and it will stimulate innovation in online platforms that enable participation in democracy via a new civic tech hub. To promote awareness of citizens' democratic rights under EU law, the Commission will present an EU democracy guide.
The Commission will also help further promote evidence-based decision-making, including through the adoption of a Recommendation on supporting scientific evidence in policymaking.
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.
A Stakeholder Platform will be established within the Centre to facilitate dialogue with trusted stakeholders such as civil society organisations, researchers and academia, fact-checkers and media providers.
Civil society plays an essential role in our societies contributing to policymaking, delivering social and community services, raising awareness about important social issues, and representing diverse groups in vulnerable situations.
With the EU Strategy for Civil Society, the Commission is stepping up its engagement with civil society, and will further support and protect civil society organisations in their work. The Strategy proposes concrete actions at EU and national level.
The strategy covers three key objectives:
- Fostering engagement: A new Civil Society Platform will be established by 2026 to further facilitate dialogue on the protection and promotion of EU values.
- Support and protection: An online Knowledge Hub on Civic Space will be created to facilitate access to existing projects and tools, including available protection measures. On this basis, further protection measures will be explored, such as urgent assistance to organisations under threat, and coordination of available protection measures in Member States.
- Sustainable and transparent funding: In its proposal for the new MFF, the Commission has proposed to significantly increase the financial support to CSOs, with €9 billion foreseen for the AgoraEU programme alone. In addition, the Commission is planning measures to facilitate access to different funding sources, creating stronger links with private donors and pro bono legal communities.