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Abstract
This article analyzes the European Union (EU) policy for democracy assistance toward the Southern Mediterranean countries and tracks changes in the last decade, with a special emphasis on the most recent period. It shows that the EU policy, which goes under the acronym of EIDHR, has evolved, but predominantly in response to internal dynamics rather than to developments in Arab countries. The EU has increasingly provided assistance to local actors on the ground in non-member countries and has differentiated its action in authoritarian countries from countries in transition. When it comes to implementing its own policy, however, the EU is less able to promote democracy than human rights, and most of the funds go to support projects centered on relatively uncontroversial rights such as women's and children's.
Notes
1. Michael Hill and Peter Hupe, Implementing Public Policy (London, UK: Sage, 2002); Wayne Parsons, Public Policy. An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis (Cheltenham/Lyme: Edward Elgar, 1995); Helga Pülzl and Oliver Treib, “Implementing public policy,” in F. Fischer, G. J. Miller, and M. S. Sidney, eds., Handbook of Public Policy Analysis: Theory, Politics, and Methods (Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis, 2007).
2. Federica Bicchi, “Dilemmas of Implementation: EU Democracy Assistance in the Mediterranean.” Democratization 17: 976–996 (2010).
3. Thomas Carothers, “Taking Stock of US Democracy Assistance,” in M. Cox, G. J. Ikenberry, and T. Inoguchi eds., American Democracy Promotion. Impulses, Strategies, and Impacts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 181.
4. The overall game of EU democracy promotion in the Mediterranean is obviously much broader than the issue of locally run projects. The power of attraction of wealthy European liberal democracies is, for instance, captured by satellite dishes in the Arab world, but not measured here. Similarly, economic liberalization policies promoted and supported by the EU are bound to have a deep political impact on Mediterranean countries; see Eberhard Kienle, “Democracy Promotion and the Renewal of Authoritarian Rule,” in Oliver Schlumberger, ed., Debating Arab Authoritarianism. Dynamics and Durability in Nondemocratic Regimes (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007). Moreover, EU democracy assistance is set within the broader practice of democracy promotion; see Oliver Schlumberger, “The Ties That Do Not Bind: The Union for the Mediterranean and the Future of Euro-Arab Relations.” Mediterranean Politics 16(1): 135–54 (2011). But these aspects are not explicitly taken into account in this article. Our focus here is on assessing the practice of democracy assistance to local actors in the area.
5. Richard Youngs, The European Union and the promotion of democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
6. Commission Communication to the Council and Parliament, Human Rights, Democracy and Development Cooperation Policy, 25.III.1991, SEC(91)61 final.
7. EP Resolution in OJEC C 150, 14.V.1992.
8. Originally referred to in debates as European Democracy Initiative or European Initiative for Democracy and the Protection of Human Rights.
9. Between 1994 and 2003 the budget line was B7, whereas in 2004, it became 19-4.
10. MEDA Democracy (as it came to be known), as the whole EIDHR, did not have a legal basis until 1999. It relied on a Commission document entitled “MEDA Democracy Programme, Budget Line B7–705—Criteria and Conditions of Eligibility” published by DG1B.A.1 on the 17 July 1996. On the consequences of this lack of clear legal basis, see below.
11. MEDA Democracy budget line 7–705. Official Journal of the European Communities, Series L, n. 44, February 14, 1997.
12. Final Report. Evaluation of the MEDA Democracy Programme, 1996–1998, prepared by Nadim Karkutli and Dirk Buetzler. Brussels, April 1999.
13. EP and Council Regulation (EC) 1889/2006, par. 13 of the Preamble.
14. European Commission, Communication, The European Union's role in promoting human rights and democratization in third countries, COM(2001)252 final, 8.V.2001, 14.
15. For the EIDHR I, it used to be AidCo, at the time the agency created to deliver and supervise aid programs.
16. With the reforms following the Lisbon Treaty and the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Delegations are now called EU Delegations and despite being manned predominantly by EEAS staff, they also host Commission's personnel.
17. See EIDHR Strategy Paper 2007–2010 and Consultation Paper. Thematic Programme for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights Worldwide. DG Relex/B/5.12.07, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/human-rights/documents/consulation_paper_en.pdf (accessed February 23, 2012).
18. For the list of EIDHR meetings with civil society and the related documents, see http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/human-rights/meetings_en.htm (accessed February 23, 2012).
19. Consultation Paper, 7.
20. EIDHR Strategy Paper 2007–2010, 6.
21. Ibid., 5.
22. Consultation Paper, 5.
23. Electoral support is provided under different instruments. In particular, EOMs are funded through the EIDHR, while electoral assistance projects are covered by geographical funds.
24. In this article, torture, arrests, and detention are considered under “human rights.”
25. In the very first round, the upper ceiling was €50.000. However, it was jettisoned to avoid a multitude of small projects undergoing scrutiny.
26. Objective 2 is divided into two components. One is devoted to the CBSS, while the other focuses on transnational and regional activity. In the latter case, the priority is given to regions that have conflicts with a transnational component, so that activities are aimed at reconciliation and mediation across borders.
27. Richard Youngs, Survey of European Democracy Promotion Policies 2000–2006 (Madrid: FRIDE, 2006), 64.
28. Patrick Holden, “Hybrids on the Rim? The European Union's Mediterranean Aid Policy.” Democratization 12: 461–80, 469 (2005).
29. 2010 Annual Action Plan.
30. Defined according to indicators based on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders of December 9, 1998. EIDHR Strategy Paper 2011, 13, 15.
31. Federica Bicchi, “Dilemmas of Implementation: EU Democracy Assistance in the Mediterranean.” Democratization 17: 976–996 (2010).
32. The time lag from the Annual Action Plan to the actual disbursement of the funds to selected projects is up to three years.
33. Interview with EU official, Brussels, June 23, 2011.
34. Bicchi, Federica, “Democracy Assistance in the Mediterranean: An Overview.” Mediterranean Politics 14(1): 61–78 (2009).