Last week, we took our #EU4GlobalJustice campaign up a notch by holding our first live debate. We brought MEPs round the table with voices from civil society and media to discuss the question, ‘Are we taking democracy and civic space for granted?’ ahead of the European Parliament elections in June. This debate was the first in a series which CONCORD is hosting in the run-up to elections.
Moderated by CONCORD’s Director, Tanya Cox, the debate heard inputs from:
- Udo Bullmann, Member of the European Parliament
- María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Member of the European Parliament
- Carolin Johnson, Policy Coordinator, European Partnership for Democracy
- Marie L’Hostis, Advocacy Coordinator, Forus
- Eleonora Vasques, EU Politics Reporter, Euractiv
You can watch the full debate below:
Tanya Cox kicked off the discussion by putting forward civic space and media freedom as windows into the state of democracy, and asking speakers to share their view as to why the tide is turning on democracy.
The debate got underway, with Udo Bullman reflecting that historically, social improvement and economic development went hand in hand in the EU, but that the systems underpinning that development are now being contested. Eleonora Vasques shared the view that the failure to consistently renew and adapt democracy can explain its deterioration, and that a lack of funding going to media globally prevents reliable information being made accessible.
Soraya Rodríguez Ramos cited the unprecedented representation of Eurosceptic parties in the European Parliament as a factor in democratic backsliding we have seen in recent years. Carolin Johnson highlighted the need for the EU’s efforts to bolster democracy within the EU to be reflected in its external action, and to double down on democracy promotion externally as opposed to allowing other interests to undermine it. Marie L’Hostis emphasised shrinking civic space occurring both at country and multilateral levels, and stressed the need for the EU’s democracy promotion externally to avoid perpetuating power imbalances and neocolonial practices.
The debate was lively and fruitful, with our speakers covering a range of issues such as the threats posed by populist parties and autocratic regimes to our democracy. The lack of transparency and access to documents which were cited as obstacles to journalists covering EU issues. When speaking about the Defence of Democracy package, the potential risks to civil society and its role in the policy-making process were discussed. Finally, the discussion turned to the need for the EU to move from a donor-recipient approach and towards partnership in its engagement with the Global South while also involving civil society throughout the policy cycle.
Evidently, there are many issues that face us with regards to democracy and civic space as we get closer to going to the polls. It was encouraging to see that our two MEP speakers were on the same page as us – the EU has a key role to play in protecting and supporting civic space and democracy globally!
As election campaigning gets underway, we call on all candidate MEPs to play their part in bringing about an EU for Global Justice by supporting our campaign messages.