Commission’s Ethics Group issues new Statement on defending democracy and its values

The report was requested by the Vice-President following the EGE’s Opinion on Democracy in the Digital Age of June 2023, which had analysed – upon a letter to the EGE by President von der Leyen – how current socio-technical arrangements can have detrimental effects on democratic practice. The EGE’s new Statement focuses on questions around civic engagement and European identity, and addresses authoritarian populism as a major current threat to democracy.

Vice-President Šuica said:

“Recent events, across Europe and around the world, show that we resolutely need to protect our democracies and the values and fundamental rights that underpin them. I was not born in a democracy, so I have a profound understanding of the importance of nurturing these values. The EGE recommends deep transformations of the societal institutions that shape how we relate to each other and how we identify as Europeans. This calls upon all of us to address the more profound causes of these democratic challenges and to think beyond ‘quick fixes’. As the EGE so succinctly stated: We can all benefit from a rich set of democratic practices.”

The EGE’s Statement analyses the characteristics of recent authoritarian movements and describes how they are incompatible with a substantive understanding of democracy: one that does not limit democracy to elections but consists in a rich set of democratic practices that make the fundamental rights and values – which form its foundation – real. The EGE stresses that hollowed-out democracies and hollowed-out welfare systems make our societies vulnerable to those who promise easy solutions for all, while they really pursue private or authoritarian interests.

The experts’ advice comes against the background of the mega-election year 2024 with polls currently indicating a rise of the far right. They emphasise the need for a reorientation of Europe to its social roots, with serious measures against socio-economic injustice, together with a renewed understanding of European identity. They stress that identity should not be defined by exclusionary categories such as territory, nation, ethnicity or religion, but appreciate plurality and its potential. The EGE underscores the importance of fostering a sense of transnational belonging that builds on the EU’s foundational values and their translation into real civic practices. They argue that this would strengthen people’s appreciation of the European endeavour and their participation in society.

The set of recommendations developed by the group considers the following elements, among others, to be key for this:

• A renewed understanding of democracy that makes substantive participatory democracy real, which involves ongoing public consultation and deliberation.
• Support for European public spaces, such as (non-commercial) deliberative platforms, including digital social spaces, that encourage citizen involvement in European decision-making.
• Active encouragement of practices of associative democracy – the self-organisation of citizens in grass-roots associations that identify and solve problems at local and regional levels.
• Encouragement of a strong administrative and civic ethos that is comfortable with working in open, collaborative relationships with civic associations; a transformed interplay between citizens and the existing institutions of decision-making – on the basis of a strong identification of people with a pluralistic Europe as a community of values.
• Analysing how law, including legal processes, are at risk of being hollowed out and repurposed by authoritarian populist leaders – and resisting this.
• Strong and sufficiently funded public infrastructures (for housing, health, education etc.) as a precondition for civic and political engagement, based on a comprehensive measuring of the wellbeing of societies.
• Reinforcement of mechanisms that secure and support fact and value-based collective memory of our European history, to counteract the creation and exploitation of false narratives.

The EGE’s reports are also intended to inform the work of the European Institutions in their new mandate following the European Parliament elections in June 2024.