MEDem welcomes the European Democracy Shield
The European Commission’s newly presented European Democracy Shield sets a clear agenda for strengthening democratic resilience across the EU. Its emphasis on safeguarding the integrity of the information environment, supporting free and fair elections, and enabling evidence-based policymaking resonates strongly with the founding principles of the research infrastructure Monitoring Electoral Democracy (MEDem).
At its core, the Democracy Shield acknowledges that resilient democracies require reliable data, transparent processes, and institutions capable of monitoring how information, attitudes, and political behaviour evolve across countries and over time. MEDem’s mission to build a sustainable European Research Infrastructure that integrates different types of data and tools in a FAIR-aligned way offers a scientific layer to the European Democracy Shield.
Safeguarding the integrity of the information space through evidence
The European Democracy Shield highlights the need for independent analytical capacities to understand information flows, detect manipulation, and assess threats to democratic processes. MEDem contributes to this broader effort by connecting researchers, data providers, and analytical tools in a coherent framework. MEDem will enable systematic and comparable research on political communication, campaigning, media dynamics, and public opinion.
Strengthening our institutions, fair and free elections, and free and independent media through comparable and transparent data
The European Democracy Shield underscores the importance of cooperation on electoral integrity. MEDem’s multi-layered approach – integrating voter surveys, media content, candidate data, and contextual information – offers exactly the type of cross-national evidence base needed for informed discussions on electoral resilience. MEDem will help ensure that insights into electoral behaviour, campaign communication, or disinformation exposure can be analysed in a coherent European framework.
Boosting societal resilience and citizens' engagement through an open knowledge infrastructure
The European Democracy Shield and the accompanying EU Strategy for Civil Society place strong emphasis on independent journalism, fact-checking, civic engagement, and the protection of democratic actors. MEDem works closely with academic, media, and civil society partners who rely on accessible and well-documented data to evaluate democratic processes and communicate research findings to the public. By fostering open science practices, providing training, and facilitating collaboration across disciplines and countries, MEDem will contribute to a knowledge infrastructure that strengthens public debate and supports democratic institutions.
The European Democracy Shield is an important step towards a more coordinated and evidence-driven response to the challenges facing European democracies. MEDem shares its core principles: transparency, openness, methodological rigour, and long-term investment in the infrastructures that make democratic scrutiny possible.
We therefore fully welcome this initiative.
The European infrastructure for unlocking the true potential of data-driven democracy research