Building Consensus about EU Policies on Democracy Support

Under the auspices of:

Václav Havel, Former President of the Czech Republic

Karel Schwarzenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic

Organizers:       Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

                         European Commission

In collaboration with European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and Association for Democracy Assistance and Human Rights (DEMAS)

Date:                    March 9 – 10, 2009

Venue: March 9 - Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czernin Palace at Loretánské náměstí  March 10 - Tuscany Palace at Hradčanské náměstí

Prague, Czech Republic

The conference takes place in times when, once again, we see history in the making. We saw it fifty years ago, when, in the famous words of Winston Churchill, from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, the Iron Curtain had descended across Europe, pushing Prague and other capitals of Central and Eastern Europe – Warsaw, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofia – into the Soviet sphere. We saw it twenty years ago, when the fall of the Iron Curtain triggered the peaceful and historic transition to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, adding new liberated countries and their capitals to the zone of freedom, liberty, and democracy. We saw it in the year 2000 and afterwards, when the actors of civil society and pro-democratic political leaders reclaimed democracy and launched their arduous road towards a democratic transformation.

The events in 1989 did not come out of blue. Many factors played a role in those seminal changes – the reforms conducted by Gorbachev, the moral authority of the Pope John Paul II, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms approved by the Helsinki Final Act, the political influence of American presidents resisting the Soviet Empire. However, nothing would have been achieved if there were no people who wanted to live a more dignified life in liberty and democracy, if there were no civic and political leaders capable and willing to work hard on a change. Many of them were inspired, encouraged and supported by their partners and allies abroad, who lived in countries enjoying the rule of law, civic liberties, and economic prosperity. The inspiration and support coming from the West was then not always called democracy assistance, but by and large, it took place in a democratic spirit of liberal constitutionalism.

And in fact, many of those new champions of democracy have not forgotten their responsibility and commitments to share their experiences and to provide assistance to making democracy perform better in young and fragile democracies.

The world is transforming from a unipolar world order into a multipolar world requiring a new international order. The financial meltdown that hit the world economy has made necessary a review of the Bretton Woods international architecture and shall result in a rebalancing of the relationship between the public domain and the markets. The faith in democratic capitalism has been shaken and it would be unfortunate if this should open the door to other, less desirable models of state-controlled or authoritarian capitalism favorable to local autocrats. 

What is at stake is to ensure that while the so-called democratic depression might be justified by events and circumstances, it is important to challenge it with new vigor, new energy, and renewed commitment and use the new international context to contribute to a more equitable and democratic global society.

Within Europe, democracy has evolved into the 27 different democratic political systems of today. Because of this history with democracy, Europeans know that democratic systems and culture vary from one country to another and have to grow from within. Or, in the words of the European Commission President Barroso: “Europe does not want to set itself up as a model or give anyone lessons in democracy. But by opting for definitive reconciliation and a partnership based on the rule of law, the pooling of sovereignty, of economic synergies and respect for diversity, Europe is an extraordinary laboratory for the future. This is why, without arrogance, it shows the way. Showing the way does not mean imposing a way. The lesson that we draw from our specific European diversity is that people take ownership of democracy and shape it following universal democratic principles, but taking into account their own vision.”

The Czech EU Presidency is hosting a conference on the European profile in world-wide democracy assistance in order to look for possibilities to strengthen Europe’s contribution in this field.

Format:

The conference is held under the Chatham house rule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham_House_Rules)