Background

In recent years, Europe has faced growing challenges to liberal democracy, the rule of law, and human rights protection. Democratic backsliding, constitutional capture, political polarisation, digital disinformation, and geopolitical instability have intensified debates about the resilience of Europe’s normative order. In response, the Council of Europe has initiated work on a “New Democratic Pact for Europe”, aimed at strengthening its commitment to democratic security.

Aim of the Workshop

This international and interdisciplinary workshop is intended to accompany this process as a scholarly forum. Rather than duplicating institutional efforts, it seeks to provide critical academic reflection, conceptual clarification, and historical contextualisation of the Council of Europe’s endeavour to protect and promote liberal democracy. Bringing together scholars from history, political science, and law, the workshop will foster dialogue on the normative foundations, institutional design, and long-term implications of democratic protection in Europe. We aim to publish our results in due course.

Conceptual Focus

The workshop builds on the premise that the Council of Europe has long been a pioneer of democratic security and has developed a comprehensive normative framework in which human rights, the rule of law, and pluralist democracy reinforce one another. Participants will examine key institutions, legal instruments, monitoring mechanisms, and political initiatives to assess the evolution of democratic protection from its origins to its current role as a guiding principle of European governance.

Workshop Details

• Date: 19-20 November 2026
• Location: Strasbourg, France – Council of Europe & Maison Interuniversitaire des Sciences sociales et des Humanités d'Alsace (MISHA)
• Public roundtable on "Democracy under Pressure: Protecting Europe’s Future" : 19 November, 17:00, Council of Europe

The international workshop on "Democratic Security in Europe: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on the Council of Europe’s Role in Protecting Democracy" is organised by Birte Wassenberg (Chair of International History, Sciences Po Strasbourg, University of Strasbourg), Klaus Brummer (Chair of International Relations, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt) and Andreas N. Ludwig (Chair of International Relations, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt), in partnership with the Council of Europe. 

The detailed workshop programme can be downloaded here.