Should democratisation be a key pillar of the

EU foreign policy?

A seminar organised by the European Liberal Forum

asbl (ELF) with the support of

VVD International/Haya van Somerenstichting

(The Netherlands) and Prometheus Liberaal Kenniscen-

trum (Belgium).

Funded by the European Parliament

27 november 2010Location: Hotel Carlton Beach, Scheveningen, Nederland

Moderator: Mark Dijk, former VVD International Secretary

INTERNATIONAAL

A liberal view on

democratisation

My name is Pieter van de Stadt, International Secretary

of the VVD board. I am in charge of VVD International,

where we take care of VVD’s international contacts and

cooperation abroad. The main objective of VVD Inter-

national is to maintain and strengthen relationships

with sister parties and to contribute to capacity buil-

ding of liberal parties in Eastern Europe, the Balkans

and the developing world.

I am pleased to welcome you at today’s seminar, ‘A

liberal vision on democratisation’, organized by VVD International and

Prometheus Center of International Knowledge, with the support of

the European Liberal Forum.

A number of prominent members of the international liberal family has

gathered here today. We invite you to join them in an effort to pin

down what role democratisation should play in the foreign policy of

the EU and its member states.

We will start with a welcome of myself and of MEP and president of

ELDR Annemie Neyts, after which Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri

Rosenthal and Hans van Baalen, president of Liberal International and

delegation leader of the VVD in the EP, will deliver a speech. Our panel

will then continue by discussing the central question of the day:

‘Should democratisation be a key pillar of the EU foreign policy?’ In the

final part of the program we will grasp the conclusions of the day in a

resolution (of which you will find a concept in this booklet), that will be

offered to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the ALDE faction

in EP. Furthermore, we will distribute it amongst European liberal par-

ties and organisations.

I wish you a pleasant and informative day!

Pieter van de Stadt

Chairman VVD Internationaal/International Secretary

Welcome!

12h00 Registrations and welcome buffet

13h00 Plenary

Pieter van de Stadt, Director VVD International

Annemie Neyts, MEP and President of ELDR

13h15 First keynote speech

Hans van Baalen, Leader of the VVD-delegation in the

European Parliament and President of Liberal

International

13h40 Question & Answers

14h00 Second keynote speech

Uri Rosenthal, Minster of Foreign Affairs The Netherlands

14h25 Question & Answers

14h50 Coffee break

15h15 Panel discussion & Introduction panel members

15h25 Introduction of panel members on subject

Arjen Berkvens, Chairman of ENoP and Director of AMS

Annemie Neyts, MEP and President of ELDR

Han ten Broeke, VVD Party, Member of the House of

Representatives, Dutch Parliament

Dr. Hans Vollaard, Leiden University, The Netherlands

15h45 Discussion with the panel

16h15

Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, Director Liberal Academy Tbilisi

Ivan Grnja, Executive Director LIBSEEN

16h40 Resolution

16h45 Drafting political advice with the panel and the audience

17h15 Closing remarks

17h30 Reception

INTERNATIONAAL

Program

Mark Dijk is council member in Utrecht and a member of

the VVD Commission on European Affairs. Between 2005

and 2009 he was International Secretary at the board of

VVD. He has been actively involved in VVD’s

democratisation program for Eastern Europe, also

through his past work at the Netherlands Institute for

Multiparty Democracy. In daily life he works as senior

manager at TNT Express.

Lecturers

Annemie Neyts, member of European Parliament and

president of the European liberal party ELDR, started her

career as a French teacher. Her transfer to politics

brought her an impressive career. Amongst others she

worked as election leader in the Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde

district for the Open VLD, as Minister of State and

Minister of Foreign Trade and European Affairs.

Hans van Baalen is President of the Liberal International

and leader of VVD’s delegation in the European

Parliament. He is ALDE spokesman on the Foreign Affairs

Committee and the Security and Defence Committee, as

well as Chairman of the Delegation for relations with

Japan. Before entering the European Parliament in July

2009, he was a member of the Dutch Parliament.

Speeches:

Moderator:

Prof. dr. Uri Rosenthal is Minister of Foreign Affairs in the

current government. He started his career in academics;

he was professor political science and public

administration in Rotterdam and Leiden. He was a

member of the Senate for over 10 years, with the

portfolio of Justice, Foreign Affairs and Defence. Since

2005 he was also leading the VVD-fraction in the Senate.

Han ten Broeke This is his 5th year in parliament as VVD's

spokesperson EU, with the recent addition of Defence.

He started his career as political assistant to Annemarie

Jorritsma, former minister of Transport. He has worked in

telecommunications in the 10 years prior to his

membership of Parliament.

Arjen Berkvens is Coordinator of the European Network

of Political Foundations and Secretary General of the

European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity. Further-

more, he is Director of the Alfred Mozer Foundation of

the Labour Party and author of “Becoming a better

politician, political skills manual.” He also worked as

political advisor and deputy campaign manager at his

party.

Dr. Hans Vollaard teaches Dutch and European Politics at

Leiden University. He received his PhD in 2009 after

research on the impact of European integration on

borders. Furthermore, he has published on European

and Dutch security policy.

Panel:

Our fourth panel member is Annemie Neyts.

Keti Tsikhelashvili heads her own think tank, the Liberal

Academy Tbilisi. She has been working with the Friedrich

Naumann Foundation and VVD International, organising

many events aimed at strengthening party capacity and

democratisation.

Foreign experts:

Ivan Grnjais is Libseen Executive Director and a valued

member of the Croation Peoples Party. He has worked as

International Officer of the liberal student network LDSU.

BackgroundDemocratisation is a major theme in international politics. In the begin-

ning of the 1990’s a wave of democratisation emerged not only in

Central Europe, but also in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Liberal

democracy came to be considered a model which would bring prospe-

rity and freedom around the world. Various developed countries inclu-

ded a special democratisation programme to

their development cooperation and/or

foreign affairs budgets. Furthermore, many

organisations emerged that were specialised

in the support for human rights, political

parties and elections. The EU has been a

frontrunner in this field and has a long and

respectable score card in democracy

assistance. It is generally held that EU accession has done more for the

cause of democratisation and stability in Central and Eastern Europe

than any other initiative. Liberal political parties and institutions

contributed to that process significantly.

Nonetheless, at the beginning of this century it became clear that the

sudden boom of electoral democracies would not automatically result

in sustainable liberal democracies for all countries. Discussions

emerged about whether western democracy was applicable to all

countries, as did discussions about the relationship between demo-

cracy and such issues as economic development and security. This

spurned a debate about the feasibility of this ambitious zeal of sprea-

ding democracy around the world, especially as the Bush administra-

tion adopted the policy of linking military intervention and democrati-

sation.

Twenty years down the line, it has become time for western

governments to again formulate their position on the matter of

democratisation. This seminar aims to discuss among a wide group of

liberal politicians, researchers and practitioners the question: ‘Should

democratisation be a key pillar of the EU foreign policy?’. As the

European External Action Service is taking shape, the EU is also

assessing its position on democratisation. The position of its member

states on this subject within a context of rapidly shifting development

cooperation paradigms will be decisive.

‘Should democratisation be a key pillar of the EU foreign

policy?'

Concept note:

Democratisation in the new decadeDemocratisation can mean a lot of different things: from free and fair

elections, to the separation of powers, a system of checks and

balances, the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Some

make a distinction between liberal and illiberal democracy so as to

separate true democracies from regimes such as Belarus and Birma,

who do organise elections but ignore civil liberties nonetheless.

Another oft-heard discussion focuses on whether democracy is feasible

and desirable in all countries, cultures or economies. The example of

China, which manages to combine staggering growth rates with an

autocratic regime, are used by some to question the gains of democra-

tisation. However, steep growth figures in long-standing democracies

such as India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Botswana show that

theories around the superiority of benevolent autocracies have little to

go by.

Although the question what democracy exactly entails is certainly not

irrelevant, this seminar tries to steer clear of discussions on semantics

or cultural interpretation. Instead, it focuses on whether our society

should still want democracy to be a leading principle for association

with other countries and how this falls amidst other priorities of EU

external policy.

One such other priority concerns trade and economic association.

Others are security and stability. As new world powers emerge, such as

the BRIC-economies, Europe reorients in order to try and maintain a

leading role at the global scene. To do so, it needs to determine its

vantage point vis-à-vis other actors.

Economic sustainability and the security

of its territory are of primary concern.

Ways to achieve this, however, transpire

also at the political level. Democracies

such as India, Brazil and Indonesia are

natural democratic allies to the EU.

These emerging economies show that

sustainable economic development and

democracy do go hand in hand very

easily. Both concepts may actually

strengthen each other, as a result of democracy’s ability to allow

citizens to hold corrupt and weak government into account for their

misbehaviour.

What does this mean for the EU and its foreign policy? The sustainabi-

lity of economic development seems to be enhanced by its being

rooted in democracy, since this offers better guarantees to creating a

fair and transparent investment climate. EU trade and foreign

investment therefore seem better off in a more democratic world.

Moreover, in an increasingly polarising world the global rise of

democracies offers a guarantee for better EU relations among

democratic allies in the rest of the world and therefore greater security

for its citizens. The EU has a rich history as democracy’s birthplace and

harbinger of multiparty democracy. As a result, it has a unique global

selling point in assisting local democratisation initiatives within

emerging economies, developing countries and the rest of the world.

Support for democratisation cannot occur in a forced manner but is

only sustainable if it entails strengthening existing local initiatives. The

EU should pay careful attention this fact.

EEASThe EU is currently developing its own foreign policy. The installation of

the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security

Policy (HR), Catherine Ashton,

can be considered one of the

first steps in trying to establish

this joint EU foreign policy.

After some delay, Mme Ashton

has recently begun to shape

the European External Action

Service (EEAS). One prominent

topic on the agenda concerns

the implementation of the EU

Council Conclusions on

Democracy Support of 17

November 2009. This agenda

established an EU framework

for the development of a more coherent and coordinated policy in the

field of democracy assistance.

Catherine Ashton is currently assessing her position on the

implementation of these Council Conclusions in the new EEAS. At stake

is the EU’s capacity to address the interconnections between

development, the quality of democracy and security and stability in

third countries. Placing democratisation together with these issues at

the top of the EU’s foreign agenda allows Europe to use its unique

selling point to better its own cause and that of other countries at the

same time. However, in order to do so, EU member states will first need

to press Mme Ashton to include this priority. Secondly, the EU will have

to increase the coherence and co-ordination of its policy instruments

for democracy assistance. Thirdly, in doing so it is to build strategic

partnerships with European democracy support organisations that can

deliver EU support professionally in partnership with local institutions.

This seminar aims to come to a joint policy recommendation on this

matter, thus assisting the government of the Netherlands in bringing

forward a joint position at the European level.

Finally, this seminar intends to offset a similar debate among liberals

worldwide. That debate should allow liberals to reflect on recent

democratic developments and to reformulate how best to assist their

peers in bringing about more sustainable democracies, both in Europe

and worldwide.

Resolution on enhancing democracy assistance by the

EU and its member states

European liberal institutions, gathering in Scheveningen, The Nether-

lands, on 27 November 2010,

Considering that the 1990’s brought about a wave of democratisation,

that in the years thereafter the accession of Central European

countries to the EU did more for the cause of democratisation and

stability of this region than any other initiative, and that liberal political

parties and institutions contributed to that process significantly;

Noting, however, that in recent years support for democratisation has

come under pressure and as a result of forced democratisation

attempts in Iraq and Afghanistan, in combination with the economic

successes of such non-democratic states as China and Singapore;

Observing, though, that the cases of India, Brazil, Indonesia and many

other emerging economies around the world show that sustainable

economic development and democracy do go hand in hand;

Believing that democracy’s capacity to allow citizens to hold corrupt

and weak government into account for their misbehaviour strengthens

economic development;

Noting that the entrenchment and sustainability of economic develop-

ment in any society is enhanced by its being rooted in democracy, since

this offers better guarantees to creating a fair and transparent invest-

ment climate;

Believing that in an increasingly polarising world democratic countries

form natural allies, that the global rise of democracies therefore gua-

rantees the EU better relations with the rest of the world and thus

greater safety for its citizens;

Emphasizing that the EU, through its rich history as democracy’s bir-

thplace and harbinger of multiparty democracy, has a unique global

selling point in assisting local democratisation initiatives within emer-

ging economies, developing countries and the rest of the world;

Observing that no two democratic systems are the same and that all

democracy assistance is therefore to carefully take into account local

contexts and demands so as to avoid imposing beliefs on others;

Call upon the European Union and its member states:

To implement the EU Council Conclusions on Democracy Support of 17

November 2009 in the new European External Action Service (EEAS);

To better the capacity of EU policies to address the interconnections

between development, the quality of democracy and security and

stability in third countries;

To build strategic partnerships with European democracy support

organisations that can deliver EU support professionally in partnership

with local institutions, however always prioritising local demand and

home grown initiatives.

Call upon European liberal institutions:

To organise similar discussions on prioritising democracy assistance in

all member states and to formulate proposals for follow up and

implementation;

To assist sister organisations elsewhere in their democratisation

attempts, and to single out political parties as key drivers in the

well-functioning all multiparty democratic systems.

The VVD International/Haya van Someren has a long history in suppor-

ting liberal parties in Eastern Europe in building up their party organi-

sation, strengthening their campaign techniques, etc. Since the foun-

dation of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy in 2000,

VVD International has also been engaged in supporting democratisa-

tion processes elsewhere in the developing world, such as in the South

Caucasus and Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Founded in the fall of 2007, the European Liberal Forum, asbl (ELF) is the

non-profit European political foundation of the liberal family. ELF brings

together liberal think thanks, political foundations and institutes from

around Europe to observe, analyse and contribute to the debate on

European public policy issues and the process of European integration,

through education, training, research and the promotion of active citi-

zenship within the EU.

Prometheus Liberaal Kenniscentrum is a strong advocate of democrati-

sation and the rule of law. In their bilateral contacts with liberal col-

leagues from all over the world they have always pleaded for human

rights, democracy and equal rights. Prometheus Liberaal Kenniscen-

trum has supported democratisation processes in their policy work and

will continue to do so in the future.

ColofonVVD Internationaal/Haya van Someren

Laan Copes van Kattenburch 52

2500GV Den Haag

Tel. +31 70 316 30 61

Website: www.internationaal.vvd.nl

European Liberal Forum asbl.

Square de Meeûs 38/40

1000 Brussels (Belgium)

Tel:+32 (0)2 401 61 11

Mail: info@liberalforum.eu

Web:www.liberalforum.eu

Prometheus Internationaal Kenniscentrum

Melsensstraat 34

1000 Brussels (Belgium)

Tel: +32 (0) 2 549 00 20

Fax: +32 (0) 2 512 60 25

E-Mail: Ruben.Lecok@openvld.be

Web: www.liberaalkenniscentrum.be

INTERNATIONAAL

About the organisers