Over 60 young people from 16 EU Member States and Ukraine have come together to publish the Our Democracy Report. It is the result of their work as Democracy Rapporteurs in a programme designed by the Our Rule of Law Foundation, combining expert training, a bootcamp at Humboldt University in Berlin, and months of collaborative writing.

Across Europe, democracy is under pressure. Turnout among young people is falling, justice systems are politicised or underfunded, digital divides make citizens vulnerable to disinformation, discrimination persists, climate commitments are rolled back, and too many young people lack education and economic opportunities. These challenges do not stop at national borders — they affect the European Union as a whole.

The Our Democracy Report looks at these issues through six key themes:
🗳 Participation in Governance
⚖️ Justice Systems
💻 Digital Literacy
✊ Equality & Non-Discrimination
🌍 Climate Transition
🎓 Education & Economic Empowerment

The report covers the following chapters: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and EU-level itself.

But the report does not only highlight risks. It also shows that there are sparks of resilience: Austria lowering the voting age to 16, Belgium and France experimenting with citizens’ assemblies, Spain accelerating renewable energy, Ukraine building digital democracy tools even during war, and the Court of Justice of the EU safeguarding rights across the Union.

The Democracy Rapporteurs’ message is clear: without democracy, there is no EU of value. By mapping both weaknesses and promising practices, they offer concrete solutions for policymakers, journalists, and citizens to defend and renew democracy.

We are telling Europe’s leaders: “We are ready to defend democracy — will you #TakeDemocracySeriously?”

Read more about the project here.

The project was made possible thanks to the generous support of the European Cultural Foundation, Mercator Stiftung, Humboldt University Law & Society Institute, the Polish Embassy in Berlin, and Jefferson’s Catering.

We would kindly like to thank Julieta Jiménez for working with on the design of the report. Please see more of her work here.