European Union: a further step for the establishment of the European Endowment for Democracy

The European Commission has recently allocated € 6 million to ensure the swift launch of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). This allocation will finance the establishment and initial functioning of the Endowment. Its aim is to help a number of social partners in a coherent, concerted effort to promote deep and sustainable democracy as well as respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The EED will aim to help actors of change and emerging players who face obstacles in access to EU funding. It will offer a rapid and flexible funding mechanism for beneficiaries who are unsupported or insufficiently so, in particular for legal or administrative reasons. Such actors may include: journalists, bloggers, non-registered NGOs, political movements (including those in exile or from the diaspora), in particular when all of these actors operate in a very uncertain political context.

The core activities of the Endowment will be to allocate financial support to the targeted beneficiaries. This will be funded by voluntary contributions from Member States or other stakeholders, such as private foundations. Other activities will include: conferences, seminars, publications, networking events, training courses.

The creation of the European Endowment for Democracy was originally proposed in the Commission communication: "A New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood. A Review of European Neighbourhood Policy", adopted in May 2011 in order to strengthen the Neighbourhood Policy following the events in Middle East and North Africa of the so-called “Arab Spring”. Accordingly, the initial geographical focus of the initiative will be on the neighbouring countries both in the Mediterranean and in Eastern Europe.

The Endowment takes the form of a private law Foundation established in Belgium. Therefore, it is not a European instrument but complements existing EU cooperation instruments. In particular, it will ensure coherence, synergies and value-added with the activities carried out by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), or the Civil Society Facility.

Source: ENPI Info Centre

Last update

20/11/2012