Global democracy support
European Parliament

Supporting civil society

A man is holding in front of his face an A/5 paper where it's written fake or real.
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A thriving civil society is key to building a democratic culture, which respects human rights. The European Parliament seeks to strengthen civil society as part of its democracy support. It provides a platform for strategic reflection and exchange between civil society actors from countries where human rights are violated.

Parliament is also ready to share its experience of teaming up with civil society actors with partner parliaments. A flagship initiative in this context is the Triangle for Democracy. It gathers parliamentarians, civil society representatives and media actors to reflect on and embrace strategies to fight information manipulation as a threat to democracy, while at the same time preserving and protecting the fundamental right of freedom of expression.

Events

  • Brussels
    13-14 November 2019

    The European Parliament organised an innovative two-day training programme for women-parliamentarians from the Western Balkans. This marked the start of the Simone Veil Programme which aims to empower women parliamentarians as agents of change who promote democratic and inclusive societies. One of its elements concerns making the best use of social media and using inclusive language.

    Highlights of the seminar included plenary presentations by experts from Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Experts from these platforms explained the need for politicians to have an overall strategy for a well-thought presence on social media. They gave advice how to use the digital platforms to reach different audiences and how to become part of the conversation in various communities of interest. Cybersecurity was a strong focus of the discussion, with tips how to adapt settings to restrict profanity and abusive comments.

    Individual coaching sessions on the use of social media lasted a full hour for each visitor and were highly appreciated. Experts from the Web Communication Unit of the European Parliament offered the coaching, based on an analysis of the social media presence of the visitors. A session on the use of inclusive language presented the Guidelines on gender-neutral language in the European Parliament, explaining the thinking behind the document.

    Visitors also had several meetings with Members. They stressed that EU accession is a matter of consensus in their societies and hoped for positive messages from the EU institutions. Members of the European Parliament stressed the importance of regional cooperation and parliamentary oversight over the executive in the Balkans.

  • Prague
    14-15 June 2018

    • Interparliamentary conference organised in cooperation with the Parliament of the Czech Republic's Chamber of Deputies, including media activists, journalists, and civil society representatives.

Brochure on democracy support

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