The Council
of the European Union agreed on 17 November to adopt Council Conclusions on
Democracy Support in the EU's External Affairs. This important development in
the EU's External Relations has sparked a great deal of interest among civil
society organisations working in the field of democracy support beyond the EU's
borders, but those not directly involved in the process may well be asking what
all the fuss is about. The European Partnership for Democracy has just published a special edition of its newsletter, in which we explain the important parts of the Conclusions and
Agenda for Action and look at the challenges to implementation that lie ahead. 
In
order to support people interested in the partnership between the EU and its neighbours, the ENPI Information and Communications Support Project has created
a webportal with over 2000 pages of information in English, French, Arabic and
Russian. This includes news, an explanation of the policy and its instruments, a glossary explaining the technical language used, and portals to country-specific information. Read more about the ENPI information service 
The EPD has joined with four fellow Dutch organisations to cooperate on a common innovative plan called 'Press Freedom 2.0', which aims to strengthen the freedom of the press around
the world. The plan was presented earlier this week to the Dutch Minister of Development Aid, Mr
Koenders. The other alliance members are World Press Photo (WPP), European
Journalism Centre (EJC), Mensen met
een Missie (MM) and the secretariat of Free Voice. Read more about the project EPD WELCOMES COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS ON DEMOCRACY SUPPORT
The Council of the
European Union approved yesterday (17 November) Conclusions on Democracy
Support in the EU's external relations. The Conclusions and accompanying Agenda
for Action affirm Europe's commitment to democracy as a core value in its
dealing with the outside world. The Conclusions recognise that ‘there is a need
for a broader and more coherent approach' to democracy building and strive to
improve the coherence, complementarity and coordination of existing EU
policies. The accompanying Agenda for Action sets out the approach that should
be taken to achieve this. The EPD has supported and contributed actively to the
process from the very beginning and celebrates this encouraging step forward.
The EPD congratulates in particular the Czech and Swedish Presidencies, under
whose leadership the Conclusions were drafted, and looks forward to continue
working with the European institutions, Member States and all stakeholders in
implementing the Agenda for Action. The Conclusions and Agenda for Action
can be read here.