European Democracy Conference

The last international conference was held on the 10th and 11th October 2022 on the topic of "Press and Media Freedom in Europe"

Every year since 2009, the European Democracy Conference has brought together European voices from academia, politics and the public to discuss a key European policy issue. Our goal is to put pressing European issues for the future on the agenda, to advance debates and to work together on innovative solutions.

 

 

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European Democracy Conference 2022

Press and Media Freedom under Pressure

The Russian war of aggression on Ukraine represents a watershed moment of truly unfathomable magnitude in European post-war history. This war between democracy and authoritarianism is also waged on another battleground: the media. A free, independent press and a vital, diverse media landscape are the backbone of a liberal democracy. But especially in Europe and in the EU, these pillars of democratic order are coming under increasing pressure. 

The European Democracy Conference 2022 therefore focused on the question of how we can specifically and decisively counteract the advancing deterioration of free reporting.  ➤ Conference Programme 2022

Contents on Press & Media Freedom

The European Democracy Conference from 2016 - 2021

The European Democracy Conference has taken place annually since 2009. The conference is documented each year with the help of articles, podcasts and video recordings in an online dossier.

About the European Democracy Conference

A conference on Europe's future

The European Democracy Conference is an annual international conference on Europe held in Berlin. It offers a platform that brings together representatives from politics, academia and civil society from all over Europe to advance current debates on European policy and to discuss the future of the European Union in a constructive way. 

For European exchange

The European Democracy Conference aims to facilitate a European exchange, to make European voices heard in the Berlin conference landscape and to formulate European expectations of German European policy. The international conference creates a space for ideas, innovation and controversy and brings together more than 300 guests every year. This European exchange is organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in cooperation with various partners.

Topics of the European Democracy Conference

The European Democracy Conference has been bringing together green perspectives from Europe every year since 2009. Each year, the conference focuses on a pressing European policy issue.

These were the conference topics of the last years:

2021: The European Democracy Conference 2021 asked how to make economic reconstruction in Europe socially just and ecologically sustainable and put a focus on the local dimension of the European Green Deal.  

2020: In the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, Germany took over the EU Presidency for six months. The European Democracy Conference 2020 looked at the expectations of the EU and the German EU Presidency. 

2019: The European Democracy Conference 2019 was held under the theme "After the European elections: Where is the European Union heading?" and analysed the election results, causes for voting patterns in the individual EU countries and how the new majority structures will affect the future political direction of EU policy.

2018: In 2018, the Conferent posed the question of what a positive vision for the future of Europe could look like. The focus was on finding ideas for a progressive policy that wants to prevent the right-wing populists from gaining further ground.

2017: The European Democracy Conference "Sixty Years of the Treaties of Rome On with Europe! The Crisis of Liberal Democracy and the Future of the EU" explored the question of how Europe can defend its liberal values, achieve a new basic consensus, revive the spirit of cooperation and solidarity and strengthen its capacity to act.

2016: In 2016, the "refugee crisis" was the focus of the European Democracy Conference. Under the conference title "Border Experience: Asylum and Refugee Policy in Europe", national perspectives were presented and discussed on what a common European asylum and border protection policy could look like.