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Democratic Society

Demsoc

The Democratic Society works for more and better democracy, where people and institutions have the desire, opportunity and confidence to participate together.

Lobbying Activity

Response to European Democracy Shield

26 May 2025

This submission reflects the position of the Democracy for Transition (D4T) coalition, co-chaired by Democratic Society (Demsoc) and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), and draws on points raised in the D4T position paper Why protective gear is not enough. Democratic Society (Demsoc) is a non-partisan membership organisation working to strengthen democracy, participation, and new ways of doing government across Europe. Our mission is to make the space between institutions and people more open, inclusive, and collaborative. We fully support the ambition of a European Democracy Shield that is bold, strategic, and future-ready, not only defending democratic systems against threats, but strengthening and evolving them to meet todays intertwined challenges of democratic decline, climate crisis, and inequality. As such, we urge the European Commission to ensure that the Democracy Shield: 1. Goes beyond defence and actively supports civil society, innovative democratic practices, and participatory structures; 2. Guards against misuse of "foreign interference" frameworks that could restrict legitimate CSO activity, protest, advocacy, and funding; 3. Reflects the Conference on the Future of Europe recommendations, especially on youth participation and inclusive civic engagement; 4. Embeds democracy and civic space as core enablers of climate and environmental action, and vice versa; 5. Supports structural and operational funding, and promotes meaningful civil dialogue and citizen-centred policymaking; 6. Prioritises long-term sustainability of civil society, not just reactive protections. A vibrant civil society and democratic innovation are essential to the EUs strength, legitimacy, and capacity to respond to systemic crises. The Democracy for Transition coalitionbringing together democracy, civic space, and environmental actorsstands ready to work with EU institutions to shape a truly resilient and participatory European democracy.
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Meeting with Anthony Whelan (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Bjoern Seibert (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Charmaine Hili (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Fernando Sampedro Marcos (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Maria Luisa Cabral (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Mary Veronica Tovsak Pleterski (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Nicole Dewandre (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Olivier Smith (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Per Haugaard (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Sonia Vila Nunez (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Valeria Miceli (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen) and

30 Jul 2020 · Brainstorming Session on "The State of the Union in 2020: Society and Democracy" - [Via Webex]

Meeting with Mattia De' Grassi (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica)

14 Feb 2020 · Conference on the Future of Europe

Response to Multiannual Financial Framework: Specific Programme implementing the 9th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation

6 Aug 2018

HE provides a unique opportunity for the Commission to implement the Lamy Report's recommendations on citizen participation and societal engagement with the science agenda. The current proposals, in our view, could show much more ambition in this area. Specifically: - We believe the proposals in our report (attached) on a citizen assembly process to select the high level missions are a sound basis for an achievable and high-profile societal engagement process. We believe that they would meaningfully improve societal engagement with the science agenda, give a practical demonstration of the Commission's commitment to open science and open government, without needless constraining the decision making frame on mission or project selection. - The "Gmillion" idea, bringing a large number of people into contact with the decision making or research process during HE's run, is strong and should be taken forward as a core target for HE's citizen and societal engagement. - The funding for engagement research in HE must be clearly marked out, though the continuation of Science With and For Society or through other means that secure continued specific research while maximising the cross-fertilisation of engagement research and scientific practice. The aim should be that every part of the research agenda encourages researchers and policy makers to engage with the latest thinking on participation, open decision making and new models of public governance. - The Open Government Network for Europe and other open government networks are ready to assist and advise on any element of this work related to participation, transparent process and accountability and we encourage the Commission to engage fully with them as the proposals move forward.
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Meeting with Maximilian Strotmann (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

22 Jan 2018 · eGovernment