Thinking Democratically: A Comprehensive Approach to Countering and Preventing Shrinking Space

4. Global coordination and political leadership for the EU
• The EU has the potential to be a leader on defending democratic space globally. The
ability of the EU and EU Member States to harness this potential depends on their ability to
overcome internal divisions and adopt a joint problem assessment and strategy.
• The EU and European states should build strategic partnerships with other international
actors with the political will to defend democratic space.
• The EU’s efforts to strengthen European citizenship are intimately interlinked with the
EU’s efforts to strengthen active citizenship in partner countries: both face similar
challenges, and both require an enabling democratic environment with space for
contestation. The EU should build those bridges and overcome the divide between internal
and external action.
IDEAS FOR ACTION
- Create a new international mechanism that can be triggered by likeminded partners to convene
emergency meetings upon sudden deteriorations in democratic space, as well as regular exchanges
on gradual closing. This might require a pre-commitment to a shared understanding of democratic space
and a common set of principles for an enabling environment.
- Alternatively, repurpose existing international mechanisms or create an informal international
coordination group of policy officers aimed at coordination and information exchange.
- Share stories of successful attempts to counter closing space, both in public communication and in
internal exchange platforms and workshops. Build on experience from civil society – inside and outside
Europe – in bringing together a compendium of good practices and success stories.
- Hold regular inter-service groups on closing space, to strengthen internal learning and coordination
within and between different European Commission services, agencies and DGs. This will facilitate
learning about closing space tactics across geographic regions and support the sharing of successful
attempts to create space. After an initial trial period, consider expanding these groups to policy officers
working on democratic space from EU member states.
- The EU and EU member states need to jointly make the case for democracy more clearly and
persuasively in their public communication. Such a communication campaign would need to be
sustained over time, consistently drawing from changing experiences and cross the artificial divide
between EU internal and external action.
51