This policy brief is prepared as a response to the public consultation opened by the European Commission for further development and fine-tuning of the European Democracy Shield initiative. This brief is prepared by INNOVADE project consortium which is funded by the EU under its Horizon Europe programme. INNOVADE project aims to advance our digital democracy by improving knowledge on the current state of the art, future trends, and emerging next practices; providing tools, frameworks, structures for inclusive digital governance; building a digital democracy application; and developing a conceptual framework, platform and the educational materials needed for democratising access to digital tools for citizens. Although INNOVADE project is still in its initial research phase, we take this opportunity to share our recommendations based on our preliminary results. Our recommendations are based on the four critical domains of European Democracy Shield’s strategic framework, followed by our reflections on the EU’s transitioning towards its Digital Autonomy.