👉 Updated Priorities of the Democratic Shield Task force (April 2025)
👉 Updated 1 pager on the outlined Policy Recommendations (April 2025)
Civil society’s engagement on the European Democracy Shield is growing. A key indicator for that is the growing numbers of Democratic Shield Task Force members. We are delighted to welcome Democracy International amongst the other organisations on board: Alliance4Europe, CEE Digital Democracy Watch, Digital New Deal, France Digitale, Telecom Paris, Fondation Robert Schuman, Reporters Without Borders, SciencesPo, Sopra Steria, Institut Polytechnique de Paris and Make.org. We believe the diversity of actors, representing civil society, academia, civic tech, journalists, think tanks and foundations provides a unique position and a multitude of views on that matter.
As a task force, we remain strongly committed to advancing the democratic resilience in the digital age. Jointly, we keep working on the Democratic Shield initiative, particularly relevant in light of the European Democracy Shield, as announced by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. According to the 2025 Commission’s work programme, a non-legislative proposal can be expected in Q3 of 2025. Besides, a public consultation on the Democracy Shield was launched recently.
On top of that, the European Parliament is also preparing itself to increase its work on democracy-related matters. Earlier this year, it established the Special committee on the European Democracy Shield, chaired by Nathalie Loiseau (Renew, FR). Multiple hearings in front of the committee are scheduled.
The Democratic Shield Task Force is glad to continue to exchange with stakeholders and policy makers on that matter. We believe it is key to have a great diversity of voices heard and get involved in the debate.
Make.org also contributed to the European Partnership for Democracy’s (EPD) recommendations on the Democracy Shield.