European Democracy Needs More Than a Shield

All over Europe, we are becoming increasingly aware that foreign interference, online manipulation, mis- and disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, and growing distrust in institutions, all exacerbated by growing AI and deepfakes, are challenging democratic systems in ways that would have been difficult to imagine even a decade ago. In response, the European Union is building what could become one of its most ambitious democracy initiatives in years: the European Democracy Shield.

This week, the European Parliament's Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield adopted a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening Europe's ability to detect, prevent, and respond to democratic threats. Among the proposals are stronger measures against foreign interference, greater protection for independent media, improved safeguards for elections, enhanced preparedness against hybrid threats, and the creation of a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience.

All of these measures are necessary. Yes, democracy needs defending. But democracy also needs an offence.

The current debate around democratic resilience focuses almost exclusively on the defence side: identifying threats, monitoring manipulation, protecting elections, regulating platforms, and responding to foreign actors seeking to undermine democratic institutions. These are all vital tasks. Yet there is a risk that resilience becomes understood primarily as a security issue, something that institutions do for citizens, rather than something citizens actively help create and contribute to.

Democratic resilience is not built only in Brussels, national capitals, intelligence agencies, or cybersecurity centres. It is also built in town halls, schools, community organisations, citizens' assemblies, local media outlets, volunteer networks, and civic initiatives. It’s because people who participate in democracy are often the first to notice when something is going wrong. They see growing distrust before it appears in the latest Eurobarometer survey. They recognise local grievances, misinformation, exclusion, and democratic blind spots long before institutions can respond. Ultimately, citizens and civil society are part of the infrastructure that makes democratic resilience possible.

This is where the proposed European Centre for Democratic Resilience presents an important opportunity.

The Centre is envisioned as a hub for coordinating responses to democratic threats across Europe. While many of its exact functions are still being developed, recent discussions suggest that it could include structured engagement with civil society and non-institutional actors through a dedicated stakeholder platform. At the same time, the European Commission is preparing a broader Civil Society Platform under its anticipated Civil Society Strategy.

These are promising developments, but the question now is whether participation will become a supporting feature of democratic resilience or one of its foundations.

We believe Europe should seize this opportunity to place citizens more firmly at the centre of its democratic resilience architecture. In Democracy International’s recent policy brief, we proposed three clear ways to strengthen the participatory dimension of the future Centre for Democratic Resilience.

First, Europe should establish a Democratic Resilience Participation Network bringing together civil society organisations, democracy practitioners, journalists, educators, civic tech innovators, election observers, and local democracy initiatives across Europe and candidate countries. Such a network could help identify emerging democratic vulnerabilities, share solutions, and strengthen cooperation across borders.

Second, the Centre should create structured mechanisms for citizen participation. This could include a regular European Citizens' Panel on Democratic Resilience and a permanent Citizen Advisory Group that helps inform priorities and identify emerging concerns. If citizens are expected to defend democracy, they should also help shape how democratic resilience is built.

Third, the EU should support local democratic resilience initiatives. Participatory budgeting, civic innovation labs, community dialogue projects, media literacy programmes, local journalism, and citizen-led accountability initiatives all help strengthen trust, democratic skills, and social cohesion. Resilience is often built locally long before it becomes visible nationally or at European level.

The encouraging news is that some of these ideas already appear to be moving in the right direction. European Commission officials highlighted ongoing work on citizen participation, deliberative democracy, civil society engagement, and stakeholder cooperation under both the European Democracy Shield and the future Centre for Democratic Resilience. The challenge now is ensuring that these efforts are adequately resourced, connected, and embedded into the overall resilience framework.

There is no doubt that Europe needs to protect elections, independent media, and safeguards against foreign interference. That is how democracy survives. But surviving is not the same as thriving. For democracy to thrive, Europe also needs citizens who trust democratic institutions, are woven into the fabric of it, participate in public life, and feel ownership over the decisions that shape their communities. 

The most resilient democracies will be those that can both shield and strike. 

Read the full policy brief here.