Democracy assistance should become a more prominent part of EU foreign policy
Brussels, 15 April 2008 - The European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) is an independent European foundation that aims to contribute to the advancement and strengthening of democracy outside the European Union (EU), and to complement existing EU democracy assistance programmes.
Through advocacy, flexible funding mechanisms, and a knowledge hub for democracy assistance organisations, the new foundation will embrace partnership and dialogue, and "will operate on the premise that effective democratic reform must be home-conceived, home-grown and home-led," said Roel von Meijenfeldt, co-chair of the Board of EPD. "The foundation will cooperate with EU institutions, but retain an arm's-length approach to preserve flexibility where the EU encounters diplomatic constraints," said Von Meijenfeldt, who is Executive Director of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).
Former President Havel, who is Chair of the Council of Patrons of EPD, said that "democracy is the raison d'être of the EU, and the foundation will bring together representatives from across Europe’s political and civil society to increase our involvement in countries where democracy is absent or under threat". Havel continued: "From China and Belarus to Burma and Zimbabwe, Europeans - at the national and EU level - have a duty to support those striving for human rights and civic freedoms everywhere, and to share Europeans' first-hand, and often recent, experiences of overcoming the indignity of censorship and authoritarian rule, and of joining the community of democratic nations."
According to Von Meijenfeldt, "the efforts of European civil society to share their experiences of social justice, democracy and respect for human rights with civil society in Zimbabwe have sustained a spirit of pluralism and hope for democratic change despite the repressive actions of President Robert Mugabe".
Havel was joined at the launch of the foundation by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and by two EPD patrons, former Vice-President of the European Commission Étienne Davignon, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Bernard Bot. Other EPD-patrons are the former President of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker, former President of the European Commission, Member of the European Parliament and Minister Jacques Delors, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Uffe Ellemann-Jensen.
On the occasion of the launch, the first Václav Havel Tribune lecture was also delivered today by former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano. Speaking in the European Parliament he made a strong appeal for more European engagement in building African democracies. The Václav Havel Tribune is a series of lectures inspired by the work of Václav Havel, playwright, former dissident, former president of the Czech Republic and defender of human rights and democracy worldwide. This series will touch upon key topics of today’s world in which Europe should play a strong role placing the emphasis on respect for basic rights of an individual and peace and stability brought through democratic principles. It is organised by EPD and the European Parliament Democracy Caucus.
According to EPD co-chair, Šimon Pánek, "we, as Europeans, should feel the joint responsibility for the development in the world and we should express this responsibility via more support to respect for human rights, free, democratic society, and rule of law in all countries of the world". The EPD, he said, "will evolve as a catalyst for the EU in meeting the challenges of the often messy democratisation processes, in particular the balance between supporting governments and grassroots organisations in emerging democracies, and in increasing the coherence between democracy assistance and EU development and security policies." Pánek is Director of People in Need Foundation, a Czech organisation that provides relief aid and development assistance, and advocates for human rights.
The third co-chair of the EPD Board is Professor João Carlos Espada of the Institute of Political Studies at the Portuguese Catholic University. Other Board members include German MP Markus Meckel, Honorary President of the Institute for Public Affairs in Slovakia, Martin Bútora, CERI professor Jacques Rupnik, and Executive Director of DEMO Finland, Sari Varpama, and Research Director of the Institute of Public Affairs in Poland, Jacek Kucharczyk.
The EPD was launched with the support of 15 European civil society organisations focusing on democracy assistance.