On 12 November 2025 the European Commission has presented 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 Commission President Ursula 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 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 disinformation.
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.
- Safeguarding the integrity of the information space
Strengthening the integrity of the information space is essential for people to exercise their rights and engage in democracy. The Commission will prepare a Digital Services Act incidents and crisis protocol to facilitate coordination among relevant authorities and ensure swift reactions to large-scale and potentially transnational information operations. An independent European Network of Fact-Checkers will be set up to boost fact-checking capacity in all EU official languages.
- Strengthening our institutions, fair and free elections, and free and independent media
While the organisation of elections is the competence of the member states, strengthened cooperation at EU level is necessary to address common challenges in this field. The Commission will therefore reinforce the work under the European Cooperation Network on Elections, organising systematic exchanges on key topics for the integrity of electoral processes. Reinforced financial support for independent and local journalism 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 European 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 EU Strategy for Civil Society
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 European Commission is stepping up its engagement with civil society, and will further support and protect civil society organisations in their work.
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 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the European 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.
European House Budapest and the Connect, the macro-regional CSO Network have been closely following the development of both the European Democracy Shield and the EU Strategy for Civil Society throughout the entire process. We also contributed several proposals to the public consultation, highlighting key priorities and concerns from across our membership.
What these initiatives will ultimately mean for civil society in Europe and for the macro-regions in practice will become clearer in the coming months, and we will continue to monitor the implementation process and return to this issue as developments unfold.
Factsheet on European Democracy Shield
Factsheet on the EU Strategy for Civil Society
