EPD: TOWARD A NEW ERA OF EUROPEAN SUPPORT TO POLITICAL PARTY SYSTEMS

Political pluralism is a cornerstone of any democracy. The diversity of voices and interests that must coexist in any democracy require intermediary bodies like political parties that link society to the functioning of the state. Indeed, representative democracy cannot function without a political party system. Therefore, the EU recognised recently that there is a need to step-up support to political party systems in order to deal with different development and foreign policy objectives like policy reforms or conflict mediation.

This Paper outlines 3 areas - chosen on the basis of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy - where the EU can and should engage more in support of the political party system in the context of wider policy and programming priorities. The 3 themes are: inclusion in political parties; the role of parties in elections; and cooperation between parties and between parties and other actors.