Download Transnational Democracy – the Road Ahead for Europe?

SPEECH/05/342
EMBARGO: 15h
Margot Wallström
Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for
Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy
Transnational Democracy – the Road
Ahead for Europe?
IDEA 10th anniversary conference
Stockolm, 10 June 2005
Democracy: its birth and growth
Ladies and gentlemen,
I believe it was Sir Winston Churchill, the great British statesman, who said:
“Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have
been tried”.
Looking back on all the forms of government that have been tried in Europe, I have
to agree wholeheartedly with Sir Winston.
We have had rule by Roman emperors; rule by kings who claimed a divine right to
govern; rule by revolutionary terror; rule by military dictators. We have had Fascism
and Communism. To name only the main examples.
All these systems led to horrendous abuses of power and widespread oppression of
the people, usually followed by war, bloodshed and destruction.
But one system of government has proved to be the exception. It was born in
Greece, about two and a half thousand years ago. We call it democracy:
government by the people themselves, following rules that they themselves have
drawn up and accepted. The result – at least potentially – is a peaceful, stable and
prosperous society.
At its birth, democracy was practised in just one city state, Athens, and it was
reserved for free men only. No slaves, no women. Democratic societies have come
a long way since then, but human rights and freedoms are still a live issue in many
countries today. Women, even in the most democratic societies, are still underrepresented and discriminated against in all walks of life .
Democracy is inseparable from human rights. There cannot be true democracy
without freedom of choice, expression and association for all citizens.
Wherever we live, and whatever the political culture of our home country, we can all
improve our model of democracy by learning from one another. That is the purpose
of today’s conference. We are here to discuss how we can help one another
consolidate and improve democracy – not just in our home countries but also in our
home region of the world.
If democracy can transcend national boundaries, it has the potential to bring peace,
stability and prosperity to whole regions of the globe. How can we make that
happen?
Trans-national democracy in Europe
Let me begin by summarising the European experience of trans-national
democracy.
Until 1950, democratic government in Europe was based on the nation state, and
was also exercised at regional and local levels within each State.
But relations between Europe’s nations were a purely intergovernmental matter.
They were conducted through classic diplomacy – and when conflicts of interest
arose that could not be settled by diplomacy, the result was often war.
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It was in the aftermath of the Second World War, in 1950, that Jean Monnet and
Robert Schuman first proposed a brand new method of organising international
affairs in Europe. Essentially, the proposal was that European nation states, while
remaining sovereign, should pool their sovereignty.
They would take joint decisions via shared instititutions. They would pool their
economic resources, remove trade barriers between them and agree common
policies on matters of mutual interest.
Agression on the battlefield would be replaced by agreement around the table.
Thus was born the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, followed by the
European Economic Community and Euratom in 1957. Neither intergovernmental
nor federal, these ‘communities’ were supra-national – an
entirely new form of coexistence between nation states. On these communities, the
European Union was founded.
It has been spectacularly successful in achieving its aims so far. As Quentin Peel
put it recently, writing in the Financial Times:
“The process of pooling sovereignty is what guarantees the peace. Solidarity
between rich and poor is also an essential part of the equation. By binding the
continent together, the EU has guaranteed stability and prosperity for all”.
The ‘community method’ of decisionmaking is essentially an interaction between
three institutions: the European Commission, the European Parliament and the
Council of the European Union.
Initially, this was not a ‘trans-national democracy’ but rather a trans-national
technocracy, designed to organise a common market. But in 1979, for the very first
time, the European Parliament was directly elected. Since then, direct elections
have been held every five years.
The EU’s democratic legitimacy thus comes from having a Parliament directly
elected by the people and a Council of ministers from all the EU’s democraticallyelected governments.
However, at this very moment – as we speak – the EU is going through probably
one of its worst crises of legitimacy in the wake of referendums in France and the
Netherlands. I will return to this subject later.
EU enlargement and neighbourhood policy
The European Union has grown from six to 25 countries, bringing former
dictatorships and ex-Communist countries into the European family of democratic
nations.
It has done so by insisting that candidate countries meet three criteria.
- They must have stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law,
human rights and respect for minorities.
- They must have a functioning market economy.
- They must adopt into national law all the existing body of EU legislation, and
must support the aims of the European Union.
These criteria were agreed by EU leaders meeting in Copenhagen; hence they are
know as the ‘Copenhagen criteria.’ In addition, candidate countries must have a
public administration capable of applying and managing EU laws in practice.
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By insisting on these prerequisites for membership, the European Union has
consolidated democracy and economic reform across the European continent. This
in turn has boosted prosperity in the new member states, whose economies are now
growing fast.
Today, Europe is freely and peacefully united for the first time in its history – a
success which we should not underestimate. Nor is the process finished: Bulgaria
and Romania are on course to join the EU in 2007, and accession talks are due to
start soon with Croatia and Turkey.
The European Union acts as a magnet to its neighbours in regions
Balkans and the southern Caucasus. Its gravitational attraction
countries strengthen their own democratic systems. That is what
scientist Mark Leonard calls Europe’s “transformative power.” As he
worst thing that Europe can do is not to engage with a country but, on
to turn its back on it”.
such as the
helps these
the political
puts it: “The
the contrary,
So, the EU is not – and has no wish to become – ‘fortress Europe’. Our borders
must not become a kind of castle wall separating a stable, democratic and
prosperous Europe from a surrounding world of instability and poverty. That would
be in no-one’s interests. Instead, we want to share the benefits of EU enlargement
with our neighbours to the east and south.
This new ‘European neighbourhood policy’ involves opening up the EU’s huge
single market to goods from Russia, Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle
East. It also means working constructively with these neighbours on a whole range
of issues: security; asylum and immigration; the environment; energy supplies…
and, very importantly, democratic reform.
Key to the Neighbourhood Policy are action plans in which countries commit
themselves to political and economic reforms in return for a range of benefits offered
by the EU. Each action plan is tailor-made for the country concerned and includes a
procedure for monitoring progress.
For example, the EU is committed to assisting Ukraine and Moldova with issues
such as energy efficiency and nuclear safety, and each of these countries is
committed to holding free and fair elections. Elections were indeed held in early
2005, and monitored by the EU. Given the changed political reality in Ukraine after
these elections, the EU improved its offer of benefits to that country.
Building democracy in the wider world
The European Union believes that democracy, as well as being fundamentally fair
and right, is the best guarantor of peace, stability and prosperity in any country and
any region. Democratic societies, where the rule of law operates and human rights
are respected, are stabler and more secure societies. They are also more open to
international cooperation.
Stability, security and openness are essential for the trade and inward investment
that bring economic development and prosperity. In a globalized world, this is crucial
to us all. So, for the European Union, promoting democracy is not just a matter of
solidarity with our friends abroad: it is also in our enlightened self-interest.
Most of our international relations include a joint commitment to democratization.
Specific clauses on human rights and democracy feature in the Cotonou Agreement
with our partners in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. They are also essential in
the EU’s relations with the Andean Community and other players in Latin America,
and with our Asian partners.
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The EU’s aid programs – by far the biggest in the world – place strong emphasis on
democracy support, institution-building and good governance.
The European Union also carries out election observation missions. These are
crucial in helping countries around the world to ensure free and fair elections and
strengthen the rule of law. Since 2000, the EU has organized more than 40 such
missions, funded by the so-called ‘European Initiative for Democracy and Human
Rights’ which also promotes freedom of association and freedom of expression.
Building democracy the European way
Given all these achievements and ongoing efforts, it is rather ironic that many
people today see the United States – rather than the European Union – as the main
driver of democratization world wide.
The European approach attracts relatively little attention because it is based on
long-term cooperation, gradually building democratic structures and reforming
systems of government. There is nothing headline-grabbing about that.
Nevertheless, step by step, it slowly reshapes the world.
Europe’s transforming power is a ‘soft’ power that achieves its effect through the
threat of non-intervention – the threat of withdrawing the EU’s hand of friendship if
democratisation does not proceed or if human rights are violated.
Of course, the European Union is not a single State with a single foreign policy.
Nevertheless, all 25 EU countries seek to coordinate their action on the world stage,
gradually strengthening the Union’s external relations. They are building a common
foreign and security policy under which they can take joint action to deal with crises
around the world.
The European Union has, in fact, already undertaken several joint missions of this
sort. For example:
- EU police missions in the Balkans and in the Democratic Republic of Congo;
- Rule of Law missions in Georgia and Iraq;
- Operation ARTEMIS (a military mission) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They are always humanitarian and peacekeeping missions, even when they involve
soldiers, and Sweden has played an active role in some of these missions.
EU and US approaches to democratisation may differ sometimes, but we share the
same goals and our efforts should complement one another. There is great potential
for Europe and the US to work together on democracy and human rights, and I am
sure the forthcoming EU-US Summit will reinforce our mutual commitment to this
work.
The challenge for European democracy
First, the European Union has long been seen as a project for a political elite – a
top-down rather than a bottom-up process. Europeans today have higher
expectations of participation and openness in the political process. They want the
EU to be more accountable, and they want their voices to be heard in EU
policymaking.
Second, the EU’s political leaders and decision-makers have not been good at
highlighting the advantages European integration brings to ordinary citizens. In the
early years, the benefits of peace and economic prosperity were clear for all to see.
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But now we have new generations in Europe with no memory of the war. Peace is
taken for granted and people are concerned, instead, about globalisation,
unemployment and social exclusion.
Third, the EU has evolved over half a century and has become quite complex. It is
no longer easy for ordinary people to understand. The problem is made worse by
the technical and bureaucratic language of EU affairs: words like ‘subsidiarity’ and
‘proportionality’, ‘co-decision’ and ‘qualifed majority voting’. All this jargon is
incomprehensible for people outside the inner circles in Brussels.
We have the ‘Lisbon agenda’, the ‘Cardiff process’, the ‘Luxembourg compromise’,
the ‘Copenhagen criteria’…
All these names of places! Has the EU become a travel agency, or what?!
Fourth, people are concerned about what they perceive as a loss of national
sovereignty. Never before have so many democratic countries transferred legislative
powers in specific areas to supranational institutions.
Overall, therefore, people in Europe want the EU to be simpler, more transparent
and more directly democratic. Most want their countries to continue working
together, jointly facing the challenges of globalisation. However, this is a difficult
process. It can succeed only if it is anchored in democracy. Europe's citizens and
their organisations must be given a stronger voice and we decision-makers must
listen carefully to people's hopes and concerns.
So it is time for a new approach in Europe.
Not a ‘Plan B’ but a ‘Plan D’ – where D stands for democracy and dialogue.
The EU has been good at building roads, railways and other infrastructure to
stimulate a frontier-free economy. It must now stimulate a frontier-free democracy by
building a Europe-wide democratic infrastructure. It must enable people and popular
movements to meet in a cross-border setting and develop a dialogue at grassroots
level.
This will involve three things.
First, building a European political culture
Political parties are the lynchpin of any democratic system. A Europe-wide
democracy therefore needs Europe-wide political parties, or at least cross-border
cooperation between national parties. This cooperation should take place not only at
the highest level but also between grass-roots activists.
Second, developing a European public arena
At present, people in Europe tend to see European issues through the lenses of
national concerns as presented in their national media. We must therefore find
innovative ways of lifting the debate out of the narrow national context and into a
broader, European arena.
Civil society also plays a major role in the democratic process, bringing citizens’
concerns to the attention of the elected politicians. I would like to see, for example,
alternative citizens’ conferences organised in parallel to some European summit
meetings.
Third, creating European forums
We can and must do more to encourage exchanges between people. We need to
create European forums in which ordinary people from all walks of life can meet, get
to know one another, exchange views and study together.
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These could be physical meeting-places , internet sites or learning network based
on schools and universities.
Grassroots movements, interest groups and individuals must be allowed to
participate in, and take responsibility for, a wide debate and place European issues
where they belong – on the current political and professional agenda.
Learning from each other
Europe is certainly not the only region of the world with experience – and difficulties
– in trans-national democracy. Africa and Latin America, for example, are also
experimenting with new forms of transnational integration, via the African Union
and the Andean Community.
How successful are these regional organizations at building and consolidating
democracy? How effective are the peer reviews, peer assistance and peer pressure
they have brought to bear? Many of the challenges are common to us all, and we
can surely learn from each other.
The learning process must not stop once this conference is over. We need concrete
action plans to advance democracy building on the national, regional and global
level.One very useful tool is, of course, the Internet. Our host organisation, IDEA, is
doing some excellent pioneering work on innovative internet resources. I am
thinking, for example, of its ACE project to improve the management of elections. I
hope we will hear more about this during the conference.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It takes time, patience and political will to build democracy. To quote the words of
Andrés Rozental, IDEA’s Vice Chairman:
“Democratization is a long term process, and it must be built from within societies. It
can neither be imported nor exported, but it surely can be supported”.
It took Europe two and half thousand years to get from free men voting on city-state
decisions in Athens to men and women voting on Europe-wide decisions in
Strasbourg.
Thankfully, in the age of the Internet, progress no longer has to be that slow!
Different regions of the world can now learn from each other very quickly, and can
use new technologies to help democracy work more efficiently.
As globalization brings us all closer together, let us use it to spread democracy
throughout our contemporary world.
Thank you
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