Pilot phase of Stakeholder Platform begins

The European Centre for Democratic Resilience launched on 29 September the pilot phase of its Stakeholder Platform, with the goal to test how the Centre and independent civil society organisations, media, fact-checkers, researchers, and media literacy professionals across the EU can develop together concrete projects to strengthen democratic resilience. 

The pilot is the first step of a wider rollout with a call for additional participants opening this autumn and the formal launch planned for spring 2027. It brings EU Member States and EU institutions together with the first two participating networks — the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) and the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) acting as coordinator of the European Network of Fact-Checkers. The preparatory phase will run until the formal launch of the Platform.

Dana Spinant, Director-General for Communication at the European Commission, said following the launch event: “Democratic resilience cannot be built by public authorities and institutions alone. If we want a genuine whole-of-society approach, we must work with the organisations that see changes in the information environment first and help build trust in communities. Working together with civil society organisations will be essential for our long-term preparedness and anticipating future challenges. No country and no authority can do it alone – we need everyone on board to protect out democracies.”

Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission added: “Our information space is facing threats that are growing bigger and faster with technologies such as AI. Pooling resources and expertise is essential. We can build on years of strong cooperation in this area, including through the Code of Conduct on Disinformation under our flagship law, the Digital Services Act. I am pleased that we are bringing important networks together to support the European Centre for Democratic Resilience and continue strengthening our action.”

The Platform has been developed with support from Member States, with Poland helping to shape the concept and sharing experience from its work with non-institutional stakeholders, which was highlighted in his intervention by Ambassador Tomasz Chłoń, the Polish Foreign Minister’s Special Envoy for Countering International Disinformation: “A systematic threat demands a systematic response. Countering FIMI must evolve into a coordinated, large scale democratic mobilization involving EU Institutions, Member States, local authorities and civil society. The response cannot remain confined to a narrow circle of specialised actors. In Poland, this approach is embodied by the Resilience Council, which advises and supports the Minister of Foreign Affairs and directly or indirectly represents around 100 civil society organisations.”

The pilot phase focuses on practical questions: how stakeholders and the Centre should work together, how information on emerging threats can best be shared, how advice can feed into the Centre’s work, and what common projects could the participating stakeholders aim for as part of the platform. Spearheaded by Member States, the Stakeholder Platform is part of a broader set of projects already being developed by the Centre. These include development of an EU Blueprint on countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) and disinformation, common concepts and methodologies for detecting FIMI, and practical support for resilient elections.

The Centre is also rolling out a Train-the-Trainers programme with the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency to help upskill government officials across Member States and strengthen whole-of-government and whole-of-society preparedness. The first training session took place in September 2026. 

Together, these projects are meant to help Member States turn shared experience into practical tools, stronger preparedness and closer cooperation across Europe.