The European Union’s External Democracy Action in a New Geopolitical Reality – a multi-stakeholder conference in Brussels

Link to the report: EU external democracy action in a new geopolitical reality (idea.int)

As Sweden chairs the Council of the European Union in 2023, time is ripe to analyse how the EU’s external democracy action fits in a challenging moment for global democracy. With the purpose of discussing recommendations written by International IDEA, a multi-stakeholder conference on the EU’s external democracy policy and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy took place on January 31 in Brussels. The event was supported by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

During the Opening Session, Charles Brasseur, project manager at International IDEA, presented the report emphasising that, given the new geopolitical reality characterised by increasing authoritarian trends and threats such as the Russian war against Ukraine, the EU must strengthen its external democracy policy. It should do so by building on its achievements as the largest donor of democracy support abroad.

The report recommends that the EU adopts a new narrative on democracy, showing its added value as the best political system to sustainably serve the people. According to Charles Brasseur, the new narrative should be humbler, transparent, and more tailor-made to local contexts. The EU should promote democracy as a universal aspiration and combat the narrative of democracy being a “western creation” often used by authoritarian states.

Another key recommendation is the adoption of an Integrated Approach to Democracy Support in External Relations. Democracy should be used to politically guide all EU’s external policies, for instance, in the trade policy, which is becoming an even more important component of the EU’s foreign policy.

The report also states that policy coherence is to be achieved by building stronger synergies between the internal and external democracy agendas. The EU should aspire to make democracy more inclusive, working closer with civil society and reaching out to local organisations.

The report and its recommendations received good feedback from the panellists. Tomas Tobé, Member of the European Parliament, said in the panel which discussed the report findings: “The EU is realising that we need to improve our external democracy action. We need to offer value-based options to our partner countries. The Global Gateway can be helpful to show why democracy is a better system. Its approach includes the social dimension and links our investments to our European values”. He added that the EU must be persistent about its demands and impose more conditionalities where the settings demand it.

The Team Europe Democracy (TED) Initiative and its potential contribution was mentioned during the conference. According to Micha Ramakers, Deputy Head of Unit, Directorate General for International Partnerships at the European Commission, “TED is a very lively initiative, which serves as a platform of cooperation among Member States and EU institutions on democracy support. We bring different stakeholders together to promote democracy worldwide. We hope to engage with the private sector on aspects like democracy and digital issues.”

One of the conference sessions was dedicated to the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, its mid-term review and next steps. Democracy is a topic in all chapters of the Action Plan adopted in 2020. Mikael Lindvall, Sweden Permanent Representative to the EU Peace and Security Committee said that all report recommendations are very important for the mid-term review of the Action Plan. “We will use and recalibrate them.”

Neal Mac Call, Head of Division Democracy and Electoral Observation at the EEAS, added: “Among the most relevant report recommendations is the suggestion to mainstream democracy in all EU policies. Recommendations about digital and democracy are also very important, as well as inclusivity and focus on women and youth. Finally, I would mention the enhancement of coordination of the EU and MS, which the TED initiative is an example of.”

Dubravka Šuica, Vice President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, closed the conference with following remarks: “Today’s exchange contributes to protect democracy. I will continue to fight to ensure that everyone can grow up in a democratic system. There is nothing better than democracy.”