A person raising a hand at a demonstration. Photo: Garun .Prdt/Shutterstock
What’s at stake?
Undue influence in public decision-making continues to undermine democratic processes across the European Union. Risks linked to lobbying, political financing, conflicts of interest, and revolving door movements between public office and private interests distort how decisions are made and whose interests are represented.
While data on these issues is increasingly available, citizens, civil society, and journalists often lack the tools and capacity to analyse it, identify integrity gaps, and act on it. This limits their ability to detect and expose undue influence.
At the same time, shrinking civic space and democratic backsliding in several countries further restrict opportunities for meaningful participation and public scrutiny. Despite EU frameworks aimed at safeguarding transparency and accountability, gaps in implementation and enforcement allow these risks to persist, weakening trust and engagement in democratic systems.
What we're doing about it
SAFE Democracy strengthens democratic resilience in the EU by enabling citizens and civil society to detect, analyse, and expose undue influence in public decision-making.
Working across 20 EU Member States, the project expands civic monitoring and supports evidence-based scrutiny of political processes. It equips national chapters to turn data into action through awareness raising and engagement with decision-makers.
SAFE Democracy also promotes reforms to improve transparency in political financing, strengthen lobbying regulation, and address gaps in political integrity frameworks, while supporting conditions for meaningful participation in democratic processes and protecting civic space.
Our approach
SAFE Democracy combines civic monitoring, capacity building, and campaigning to address integrity risks and strengthen democratic participation across the EU.
The project expands and connects tools such as Integrity Watch across countries, enabling the collection and analysis of data on lobbying, political finance, conflicts of interest, asset declarations, and revolving door practices. This generates comparable evidence and supports scrutiny by journalists and civil society.
Building on this evidence, national chapters design and implement data-driven advocacy, including targeted campaigns, policy engagement, and outreach to decision-makers. Tailored capacity building and technical support strengthen their ability to analyse complex datasets and respond to emerging risks.
SAFE Democracy creates spaces for engagement through citizen dialogues, workshops, and collaborative formats that connect civil society, experts, and public authorities — including building capacity to monitor political integrity risks. Coordinated regional action enables joint responses to shared challenges, such as democratic backsliding and shrinking civic space.
Financial support to national chapters enables locally tailored initiatives that respond to country-specific risks while contributing to shared objectives.
