Advisory group set to scrutinise democracy partnership projects

Date: 04/01/1996

HUNDREDS of projects designed to consolidate political reform in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union will be vetted in Brussels next week.

The partnership schemes prepared by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will be funded by second instalments of the EU's 1995 Phare and Tacis Democracy Programmes, involving budgets of 10 million ecu and 5 million ecu respectively.

Launched by the European Parliament in 1992, the programmes aim to strengthen political pluralism and promote the rule of law in the new democracies which have emerged from behind what used to be the Iron Curtain.

UK Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, one of the prime movers behind the programmes, believes they set an instructive precedent for further EU schemes elsewhere in the world.

“The Phare and Tacis schemes have gone extraordinarily well and are an example of how non-governmental programmes should be managed. We are seeking to extend the same approach to the Mediterranean and to various developing countries,” he says.

Democracy projects are now to be found in two dozen countries ranging from the Baltic republics to Albania, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia.

They are designed to help politicians and their staff master parliamentary practice, strengthen NGOs and transfer expertise and technical skills to professional groups and associations.

Individual schemes promote trade unions, provide broadcasting training, consolidate human rights, encourage academic and legal exchanges, protect the rights of minorities and advance the cause of equal opportunities.

The Union is preparing to increase its democracy funds this year, allocating 11 million ecu to Tacis and 10 million ecu to Phare.

It is also relaxing its eligibility rules by funding schemes for up to two years, instead of just one year as in the past, and by accepting projects devised by NGOs in the new democracies which do not, as previously, involve counterparts in the EU.

The democracy programmes are also unique in that four separate institutions are involved in scrutinising applications for funding after an initial assessment has been carried out by the European Human Rights Foundation.

When the latest batch of requests for funding is examined on 9 January, the advisory group involved will include a special combination of representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the Group of 24 donor countries.

“One good thing about the democracy programmes is that they do not have to go through governments. They flow from Brussels to NGOs and that is appreciated in Eastern Europe, as we can fund schemes which might be controversial like promotion of an independent media or support for minorities,” commented one senior official.