Brussels, 16/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski sent a joint letter on 10 November to EU foreign ministers to put proposals to them on a European endowment for democracy (EED). They would like the ministers to back the creation of the EED at the Foreign Affairs Council on 1 December.
In the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Agence Europe, Ashton and Sikorski say that the endowment could take the form of an “international fund” funded by contributions from member states and matching funding from the European budget, and that other states could also contribute. EU institutions and member states would have oversight of EED activities, its budget and the procedures for delivery of grants.
The two say that the EED would “act as an autonomous grant-making organisation, operating as a private non-profit entity capable of establishing its own financial and procedural rules”. It would, however, work and take decisions at arms' length from EU institutions and member states. “Such a set-up strikes a balance between overall political supervision and coherence on the one hand and autonomy and efficiency on the other”, they say.
The initial geographic scope of the EED should be the neighbourhood although, “it should also be mandated to respond immediately to pressing political priorities in other countries”. Indeed, its mandate could ultimately be expanded globally.
The endowment, the creation of which was announced in May of this year, will, according to the European Council of 20 June, be a further means for the EU to support deep and lasting democracy in the countries of the neighbourhood. (CG/transl.rt)