Democracy :Report

Democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights are the foundations on which the European Union is based. Democracy allows citizens to make electoral choices in a public space where a plurality of views can be expressed freely and to shape laws and public policies at European, national, regional and local levels. It requires safeguards, checks and balances, and institutions that fulfil their roles and uphold the rules of pluralistic democratic debate. Yet, democracy cannot be taken for granted. In recent years, democracy in the EU and its Member States has been facing challenges, including rising extremism and polarisation, perceived distancing between people and their elected representatives and the spread of disinformation. In December 2020, the European Commission presented its European Democracy Action Plan (hereafter ‘EDAP’) to empower citizens and build more resilient democracies across the EU by: - promoting free and fair elections - strengthening media freedom and pluralism - countering disinformation. In her 2022 State of the Union Address, President von der Leyen announced a ‘Defense of Democracy’ package. The package aims to review the implementation of, and deepen the actions under EDAP, as well as to ‘bring covert foreign influence and shady funding to light’. In this context, a flash Eurobarometer survey was commissioned by the Commission’s Secretariat-General to assess EU citizens’ views on the state of democracy in their country and in the EU as well as EU citizens’ perceptions of the possible threats democratic institutions in the EU may be facing. On behalf of the European Commission, Secretariat-General, Ipsos European Public Affairs interviewed a representative sample of EU citizens, aged 15 and over, in each of the 27 Member States of the European Union. Between 22 March 2023 and 29 March 2023, 25 600 interviews were conducted via computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI), using Ipsos online panels and their partner network. Survey data presented in this report are weighted to known population proportions. The EU27 averages are weighted according to the size of the 15+ population of each country. A technical note on the methods applied to conduct the survey is appended as an annex to this report.