Creation
The European Partnership for Democracy was created in April 2008 with backing from several European governments. The launch was opened by Czech President Vaclav Havel, who stated:
“I believe that this new foundation is one of many conceivable ways of demonstrating how the old European idea of joint responsibility for this planet lives on in a unifying Europe and is still relevant in our global world. From my own experience, I know how enormously important it is for those who in one way or another are fighting for human rights or against authoritarian regimes to receive attention or assistance from the democratic world.” [5]
In his historical dictionary of democracy, scholar Norman Abjorensen writes that EPD "was set up to further European democracy assistance across the world, and has operated in about 140 countries, working with civil society organizations, faith-based organisations, media outlets, elections-management bodies, the private sector, political parties, elected institutions at national and local levels, and the security and justice sectors." [3]
Objectives and functioning
EPD works inside and outside Europe because "democracy is a universal aspiration, and the contemporary challenges and opportunities for democracy are universal in scope. But we also recognise that democracy is not a perfect system and requires continuous vigilance and adaptation in order to deliver for people."
EPD brings together organisations with a solid track record, vast external reach, strong relationships with key domestic actors and specialisations on:
- different fields of democracy support: media support, civic tech, political parties, local authorities, elections, the rule of law, women’s participation, parliamentary support, multi-stakeholder dialogue, political and civil rights, civil society capacity building, ICT and civic and political education;
- different levels of society: political leadership, elected representatives, state officials, civil society and grassroots community representatives;
- different contexts: open democratic societies, electoral democracies, competitive autocracies and dictatorships.
Acting as a Community of Practice, EPD mobilises the network expertise through three pillars of work: research, policy, and programmes. As part of its research pillar of work, EPD produces regular research papers that look at different themes and trends in democratic governance and democracy politics, bringing together academic, policy and practitioner perspectives. The landmark research products of EPD are the European Democracy Support Annual Review, the Data Tool on European Democracy Support Funding and the Global Youth Participation Index.
EPD collaborates with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the European Democracy Hub, a permanent hub for expertise on democracy support seeking to fill the gap between programme evaluations and global assessments of the state of democracy, with analysis and evidence-gathering of European democracy support policies and programming.
By working closely with civil society organisations, EU institutions, European governments and academia, EPD advocates for policies inside and outside Europe that foster democratic societies and fundamental rights. This includes advocacy on digital policy, media freedom and freedom of expression, the rule of law, citizen participation and inclusion, and EU foreign policy and development policy.
EPD implements democracy support programmes all around the world – from support to anti-corruption, to youth inclusion, to fighting disinformation. Their portfolio is diverse thanks to the wide array of expertise within the EPD Community, which cooperates with strong, capacitated partners that can assemble ‘coalitions for change’. Through this joint programming, EPD generates evidence on what works, analysing and interpreting programme outcomes and improving its methods and approaches. For more information, visit the EPD website.
Internal organisation
EPD's organisational structure is composed of a general assembly composed of all member organisations, a Board of Directors and a Secretariat.
EPD is managed by a Board of Directors composed of eight members elected among the organisations composing EPD. The board is composed of a president, currently Anu Juvonen, the executive director of Demo Finland, a Vice-President, currently María Elena Agüero, the secretary general of Club de Madrid and a treasurer, currently Anthony Smith, the chief executive officer of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
The EPD Secretariat is based in Brussels and is in charge of the daily activities of the partnership. It is led by an Executive Director, currently Ken Godfrey.
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