European Democracy Shield

Democracy should not be taken for granted; it requires constant work

Our European democracies are under attack, and the EPP Group is committed to the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield to respond to new geopolitical challenges and the expectations of many European citizens.

Over the past 10 years, global information ecosystems have become geostrategic battlegrounds, and the EPP Group has repeatedly seen foreign states trying to influence democratic processes in the EU and individual EU countries. As a Union, we need to discuss how we can adapt our legislation to resist these threats and defend the values on which our Union is built. There is an urgent need for targeted support for EU regions bordering Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, as the ongoing hybrid threats along the Eastern EU border demand immediate and concrete actions. More broadly, however, there is a need to increase resilience across the whole Union since the threats we face, particularly in the online space, have no borders.

Our action should include strengthening border protection, military mobility, crisis management, and both civilian and defence preparedness, particularly in response to existing threats, including the weaponisation of immigration in border areas. The risks today are more severe than ever before.

Our work will focus on interference via online platforms and their impact on democracy, attacks on critical infrastructure, cyberattacks, AI-generated content and deepfakes, domestic hybrid threats, as well as the role of malicious state and non-state actors.

The EPP Group will assess the existing and planned EU legislation and measures in light of potential malicious interference in democratic processes, and we will propose concrete solutions to strengthen the EU’s resilience to hybrid threats and attacks.

Lastly, the EPP Group is committed to upholding universal values, such as freedom of expression in a safe and secure online space.

This is why we have launched a new Special Committee called the ‘European Democracy Shield’ in the European Parliament.

Democracy should not be taken for granted; it requires constant work.