The new European Centre for Democratic Resilience starts its work

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

At today’s meeting of the General Affairs Council, EU Ministers were invited by the Commission and the Council Presidency to mark the start of the work of the European Centre for Democratic Resilience. The aim of the Centre, a flagship initiative of the European Democracy Shield, is to facilitate a consolidated approach involving all of society to increase awareness and boost the capacity to respond to the threats faced by democracies today, and build democratic resilience.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “In a world where information is increasingly weaponised to undermine our democracies, we are taking action. With the European Centre for Democratic Resilience, we will level up our collective capacity to counter foreign information manipulation and disinformation. This will strengthen our resilience, ensure Europe’s public debate remains open and fair, and empower citizens to participate in democratic life.”

Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, will discuss with EU Ministers how the Centre can facilitate the sharing of expertise and experience and support the development of effective responses to common threats, to deliver tangible results for our citizens. The interest shown by all Member States in the setting up of the Centre demonstrates that the initiative responds to a clear need and it will be rolled out in a flexible way, with practical capacity-building projects that reflect Member States priorities. The Centre will help avoid the fragmentation of existing efforts, connecting existing networks and structures which already work on the prevention, detection, analysis and response options to patterns of threats in the information space helping each one deliver to their full potential and avoiding duplication.

 Emerging priority areas for the first year include:

• Developing tools to support resilient elections, including by bringing together relevant existing EU rules, soft measures and tools for Member States that help address Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) and disinformation campaigns targeting electoral processes in the Member States.
• An EU Blueprint to counter FIMI and disinformation intended to support preparedness and help to build capacities across the Union.
• Launching a dedicated Stakeholder Platform bringing together independent actors like civil society organisations, think tanks, researchers, academia, fact-checkers and media organisations to support the dissemination of research and other outputs and encourage exchange among different stakeholders, providing knowledge and insights to work with Member States in the Centre.
• Fostering capacity building and mutual learning, including sharing of expertise and best practices, enabling Member States with advanced experience in countering FIMI and strengthening democratic resilience to support others, raising the overall level of preparedness across the EU.
• Identifying adequate modalities of cooperation with EU candidate countries and potential candidates in the framework of the Centre, to ensure a mutually beneficial cooperation.
• explore various models for involving citizens in our efforts to protect democracy, building on the valuable experience developed in many Member States. The Commission will support this reflection by organising this year two citizens panels, on preparedness and on building democratic resilience.

The Commission, with the participation of the European External Action Service, will support the Centre’s activities by drawing on existing tools and expertise and by strengthening coordination across relevant EU instruments and networks.

With the launch of the European Centre for Democratic Resilience, we take a further step to reinforce democratic resilience, protect the integrity of public debate and strengthen trust in Europe’s democratic systems.

Background

The European Centre for Democratic Resilience is a flagship initiative of the European Democracy Shield, presented in the Joint Communication of 12 November 2025, as outlined in the political guidelines and the 2025 State of the Union address by President von der Leyen. The European Democracy Shield set out a series of concrete measures to empower, protect, and promote strong and resilient democracies across the EU.

In an age of growing political confrontation, regional and international conflicts and rapid technological disruption, democracies are facing internal and external pressures. Authoritarian regimes seek to exploit divisions, sow mistrust, and restrict democratic actors such as free media and civil society. In doing so, they erode trust in democratic institutions, undermine free and fair elections and challenge the very values on which the European Union is founded. These threats unfold against the backdrop of a deep digital transformation that brings both new opportunities and new vulnerabilities. At the same time, declining public trust and engagement, along with unprecedented risks faced by civil society organisations, further endanger the promotion of fundamental rights across the EU.

Through the external dimension of the European Democracy Shield, the External Action Service (EEAS), in coordination with the Commission, will step up its work to combat foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) beyond our borders. The EEAS is reinforcing capabilities in EU Delegations and Representations abroad, leveraging partnerships for collective responses against FIMI.

The European Centre for Democratic Resilience will serve as a voluntary strategic hub for cooperation amongst Member States. With the support of relevant EU institutions and bodies, it will operate in full respect of national and institutional competences while fostering fundamental rights and democratic values.

The Commission provides administrative and operational support to the Centre through a Secretariat. Supported by and in close coordination with the Rapid Alert System managed by the European External Action Service, the Centre will link together existing networks and structures.

A high-level technical meeting was hosted in Brussels on 29 January with full participation of all EU Member States as well as the European Commission, EEAS, European Parliament and the Council Presidency. Participants discussed the mission and framework of the Centre and agreed on the need for coordinated, collaborative action to support democratic resilience.

Respondents to the Special Eurobarometer on “Protecting and promoting democracy” mentioned the following among the most serious challenges to democracy in the EU: the growing public distrust towards democratic institutions and processes (49%), foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation, including in the context of elections (42%) and the lack of transparency with regard to whether political content online is promoted through new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (32%).