The Commission has made the protection of democracy its priority. It has put forward strategies and legislation that protect free and fair elections, counter foreign interference, protect the freedom and pluralism of the media, as well as the safety of journalists.
At the same time, it has strengthened opportunities for citizens to engage actively in democratic life, fostering participation and inclusion in decision-making.
European Democracy Shield
Presented in November 2025, the European Democracy Shield is the Commission's overarching strategy to protect and empower our democracies.
The Shield presents new measures across three priority areas
- Safeguarding the information spacereinforcing the EU's situational awareness and capacity to respond to disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference
- Strengthening democratic institutions and free mediareinforcing the fairness and integrity of election processes in the EU, and supporting free and independent media
- Boosting societal resilience and citizens’ engagementensuring media and digital literacy for all ages, and supporting citizens and civil society in engaging actively and safely in democratic life
More information on the European Democracy Shield
European Centre for Democratic Resilience
A core component of the European Democracy Shield, the European Centre for Democratic Resilience is a new hub for exchange aimed at increasing the EU’s capacity to detect and respond to threats to our democracies.
The Centre brings together the expertise and resources of participating EU institutions, Member States, candidate countries and potential candidates, with additional contributions from civil society and academia.
Find out more about the European Centre for Democratic Resilience
A continuous effort
The European Democracy Shield is part of a broader, evolving EU approach to democracy protection. Earlier initiatives laid important foundations for today’s framework.
The European Democracy Action Plan established a comprehensive framework to promote free and fair elections, strengthen media freedom, counter disinformation and encourage citizen engagement. This work was further developed through subsequent measures introducing new transparency and accountability standards for third-country lobbying, alongside recommendations on electoral resilience and civic engagement.
EU actions by theme
Protecting free and fair elections
Free and fair elections are the foundation of democratic governance. The EU has introduced a number of key actions to support election integrity:
- The Political Advertising Regulation, applicable since 10 October 2025, requires full transparency on who funds sponsored political content, ensuring citizens know when and why they are being targeted with political messages.
- The European Cooperation Network on Elections brings together Member States' electoral authorities to share expertise and best practices on keeping elections free, fair and secure.
- Updated rules on the funding of European political parties strengthen transparency and limit the risks of foreign interference.
Media freedom and pluralism
A free and pluralistic media landscape is essential to a healthy democracy. The EU has put in place a landmark set of measures to support this:
- The European Media Freedom Act, applicable since 8 August 2025, protects editorial independence, bans the use of spyware against journalists, and ensures transparency in media ownership.
- The Anti-SLAPP directive, applicable since 7 May 2026, shields journalists, activists and human rights defenders from abusive lawsuits designed to silence them, enabling courts to swiftly dismiss unfounded cases and providing compensation for those targeted.
Countering disinformation and foreign interference
Disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference pose a direct threat to democratic debate and electoral integrity. The EU's response includes:
- Making online platforms accountable - the Digital Services Act requires large platforms to assess and mitigate disinformation risks. The Code of Practice on Disinformation commits signatories to introduce measures to reduce the spread of disinformation on their platforms. The AI Act provides additional safeguards against AI-generated manipulation.
- Detecting and exposing foreign interference - the EUvsDisinfo project and the Rapid Alert System monitor and expose disinformation campaigns, with a particular focus on foreign state actors. The EU has also adopted sanctions against Kremlin media outlets targeting European democracies following Russia’s war in aggression in Ukraine.
- Building societal resilience - the Commission promotes digital and media literacy through resources for educators and citizens of all ages, including guidelines for teachers and toolkits for secondary schools.
- Supporting fact-checking - under the European Democracy Shield, a strengthened European Network of Fact-Checkers will provide independent fact-checking in all EU languages. The European Digital Media Observatory brings together fact-checkers, researchers and media literacy experts across the EU.
More on countering information manipulation
Civic engagement and participation
Meaningful citizen participation enriches democratic debate and reinforces representative democracy. The 2023 Commission Recommendation on civic engagement promoted the involvement of citizens and civil society in public policymaking across all levels of government.
The EU provides a range of opportunities for citizens to engage directly in policymaking:
bring together randomly selected citizens to deliberate on specific policy questions and feed concrete recommendations directly into Commission proposals
allows citizens to call directly on the Commission to propose new legislation, with over 20 million signatures collected across more than 120 initiatives since 2011
enables citizens to share their views on the Commission’s initiatives and contribute to the decision-making process
brings together young representatives from across Europe to advise the Commission directly on policies relevant to young people
Funding
The Commission mobilises dedicated funding across several EU programmes to support its work on protecting democracy.
EU programmes help fund measures including
- promoting election integrity, boosting citizen participation, civic engagement and trust in democracy
- strengthening funding to news media organisations within the EU and beyond
- promoting media literacy and helping citizens identify disinformation.
Key funding programmes include
Looking ahead, the Commission has proposed the AgoraEU programme under the next long-term EU budget, currently being negotiated by the European Parliament and Council. When adopted, it will significantly scale up financial support for democratic participation, media freedom and civil society.
Related links
This page was last updated on 29 June 2026