The European Commission has launched a new initiative to safeguard the EU’s democratic foundations – the European Democracy Shield.
The European Democracy Shield will focus on three main pillars; firstly, it will seek to safeguard the integrity of the information space; secondly, it will strengthen institutions, fair and free elections, and free and independent media; and thirdly, it will seek to boost societal resilience and citizen engagement.
‘Collective capacity’
“Democracy is the foundation of our freedom, prosperity, and security,” commented Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who had previously outlined the initiative in this year’s State of the Union address. “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.”
One notable deliverable from the Shield will be the development of a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience, which will bring together expertise from both the EU and individual member states to ‘anticipate, detect and respond to threats and build democratic resilience’, the Commission said.
This will particularly focus on foreign information manipulation and interference, such as in elections, and the rise of disinformation.
It will see the establishment of a European Network of Fact-Checkers, covering all EU languages, as well as enhanced monitoring capabilities through the European Digital Media Observatory. In addition, a Digital Services Act incidents and crisis protocol will facilitate coordination among relevant authorities and ensure a ‘swift reaction’ to large-scale and potentially transnational information operations.
Elsewhere, the Commission will seek to reinforce EU-level cooperation on election integrity through the European Cooperation Network on Elections, while the Media Resilience Programme will provide funding to support independent and local media outlets.
‘Undermining trust’
“Liberal democracy is under attack,” added Kaja Kallas, high representative for foreign affairs and security policy/vice-president of the European Commission. “We see campaigns – including by Russia – specifically designed to polarise our citizens, undermine trust in our institutions and pollute politics in our countries.
“The new European Democracy Shield is part of Europe’s response to protect the ingredients of our democracies: free media, fact-based debate and fair elections. If we want democracy to prevail, we have to defend it better.” Read more here.
