The EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy is currently being reviewed by the European External Action Service (EEAS). The review is done in close consultation with civil society organizations. As a Community of Practice of democracy support organisations, the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) has chosen to contribute to the consultation by providing written contributions.
Building on recommendations about democracy assistance from EPD’s previous written contribution submitted to the EEAS in July 2014, the EPD has developed a set of proposals and objectives, along geographical and thematic perspectives, which centre on the use of inclusive and participatory dialogue as a means for supporting democratisation processes and sharing experience among democracy support practitioners.
EPD recommends that:
1. The EU Delegations support multi-stakeholder dialogue processes as a means to identify reform priorities locally.
2. The EEAS and European Commission should invite the Member States and political and civil society organisations from the democracy support sector to take part in a structured dialogue on how the EU and its Member States support democratic change.
For more information on EPD’s recommendations, download the written contribution here.
What is EPD?
The European Partnership for Democracy is an independent European non-profit organization supporting democratic transformations outside the European Union. Partners include Demo Finland, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, Club de Madrid, the Eastern Europe Studies Centre and FRIDE, a European think tank for global action. EPD advocates for a stronger presence of democracy support on the European Union’s agenda and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and good practices in democratic transformations around the world.