15/12/2025 Ad Hoc Committee New Democratic Pact
What initiatives are partner organisations of the Council of Europe, such as the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), undertaking to protect democracy?
This was the focus of the fourth meeting of the PACE ad hoc Committee on the New Democratic Pact, held in Paris on 11 December. The meeting provided an opportunity for the members of the ad hoc Committee to exchange views with Nathalie Loiseau, Chair of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield of the European Parliament, Mary Beth Goodman, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD and Gillian Dorner, Deputy Director for Public Governance of the OECD.
Ms Loiseau praised the Council of Europe’s decades-long commitment to defending human rights, and said that it was encouraging to see how the Organisation recognised the urgent need to protect European democracies, a need echoed by the European Union: “we have the tendency to talk about threats, but it is not just threats anymore: we are facing daily attacks,” she warned.
In turn, Ms Dorner emphasised how governments in many OECD democracies are “stuck”: unable to move forward with major reform processes - caught between growing demands for protection, consultation, and risk mitigation, and their hampered ability to act in a fast-changing economic, societal and technological landscape. She stressed that part of the explanation is political, with consensus being more difficult to achieve in many OECD countries today, but another part lies in how governments themselves function.
During their discussions with the invited guests, members of the ad hoc Committee explored the different activities foreseen under the European Democracy Shield and under the OECD Reinforcing Democracy Initiative, particularly with regard to protecting the information environment, responding to foreign interference, promoting citizen participation, and the role of artificial intelligence in public governance.