European Citizens' Panel on Democratic Resilience

The European Commission’s citizens’ panels were established following the Conference on the Future of Europe (2021-2022). This event brought together 800 citizens from across the European Union, who formulated 178 recommendations. These went on to inspire 49 concrete proposals and more than 300 related actions. A strong message emerged: citizens want to be more involved in European decision-making.

Over the past few years, this new generation of citizens’ panels has explored issues such as food waste, virtual worlds, learning mobility, energy efficiency, tackling hatred in society, the EU’s long-term budget, and intergenerational fairness. The most recent one focused on Europe’s preparedness for future crises such as climate disasters, pandemics or geopolitical challenges, as part of the EU’s preparedness union strategy.

Over the next three months, 150 randomly selected citizens from all 27 Member States will come together to reflect on the future of democracy in Europe. This panel is part of the European Democracy Shield, a new strategy presented by the European Commission in November 2025 to strengthen democratic resilience across Europe.

The Shield rests on three pillars:

• Safeguarding the integrity of the information space
• Strengthening democratic institutions, free and fair elections, as well as free and independent media
• Boosting societal resilience and citizen engagement

As part of this panel, each participant will be invited to share their everyday experience of democracy, identify key challenges and opportunities, and develop concrete recommendations for the European Commission’s future work in response to the pressures currently facing our democracies. Participants will therefore be asked to reflect on two main questions: How can we make our democracies stronger and more resilient, together?  And, building on your own experience and on the European Democracy Shield, what should the EU do so that we can all take part in and shape the democracy we live in?

To address these questions, the process is organised around three sessions:

Session 1: 18–20 September 2026, Brussels

Titled “Democracy called, I answered” (or “La démocratie a appelé, j’ai répondu”), this first session invites participants to discuss what democratic resilience means in their everyday lives and to share their own experiences. Together, they will identify the main challenges, needs and opportunities the panel should focus on.

Session 2: 16–18 October 2026, online

Titled “Strengthening and extending democratic resilience” (or “Renforcer et étendre la résilience démocratique”), it aims to work on the identified priorities with the support of experts, turn them into concrete objectives, and begin developing ideas and proposals.

Session 3: 20–22 November 2026, Brussels

The third and final session will take place in Brussels from 20 to 22 November. Titled “People powered politics” (or “Le pouvoir citoyen en politique”), it will see the finalisation of citizens’ recommendations and proposals, which will be voted on and adopted by the entire panel.

A committee of experts (Knowledge Committee), with varied profiles, will support citizens throughout the process. It will provide information and insights, and help ensure that discussions remain clear and accessible, despite the complexity of the topic.