Financing instrument for democracy and human rights worldwide (2014-2020)

The European Parliament adopted by 588 votes to 34, with 67 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide (EIDHR II).

Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted in plenary are the result of a compromise negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council:

General objective: the objective of the EIDHR II should be to provide assistance to the development and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law and of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms through:

• enhancing the respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international and regional human rights instruments, and strengthening their protection, promotion, implementation and monitoring, mainly through support to relevant civil society organisations, human rights defenders and victims of repression and abuse;
• supporting, developing and consolidating democracy in third countries, by enhancing participatory and representative democracy, strengthening the overall democratic cycle, in particular by reinforcing an active role for civil society within this cycle, the rule of law and improving the reliability of electoral processes, in particular by means of election observation missions.

Specific objectives and scope: a series of new specific objectives have been added:

• reinforcing local democracy;
• promoting the equal participation of people with disabilities in decision-making;
• the abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of moratoria with a view to abolition where the death penalty still exists;
• appropriate support for human rights defenders, by means of a mechanism providing for longer-term assistance and access to shelter;
• protecting the rights of LGBTI persons;
• the rights of indigneous peoples ;
• the fight against all forms of discrimination, including religious, ethnic or linguistic;
• promoting the observance of standards in prisons;
• promoting the peaceful outcome of electoral processes.

It should be noted that this proposed Regulation would be implemented independently of the consent of third country governments and other public authorities.

Performance indicators: progress in these areas would be assessed through performance indicators defined in the draft Regulation

General framework of assistance: the support should be granted in accordance with the general framework defined by the external policy of the EU and the relevant texts of the European Parliament in this area. To this end, a series of thematic objectives were defined in the Annex to the future regulation.

Involvement of civil society: the objectives of this Regulation should be pursued with an appropriate involvement of civil society organisations on a regular basis.

Implementation: provisions have been included to clarify the technical implementation of the EIDHR II in terms of its strategic planning and programming, as well as its special measures.

Financial allocation: in accordance with the agreement on the Financial Framework, the financial allocation for the implementation of the EIDHR II is set at EUR 1 332 752 000.

Coordination, consistency and complementarity of the assistance: in order to enhance the effectiveness, coherence and consistency of the Union's external action, the Union and the Member States shall seek regular exchanges of information and consult each other at an early stage of the programming process. The Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS), as appropriate, should also hold regular exchanges of views and information with the European Parliament. The Union shall also consult other donors and actors concerned. The position of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights (EUSR) should be taken into account, as well as those of the EEAS and the European Parliament.

Transparency: the European Parliament and the Council should have access to all relevant documents in the context of the implementation of the proposed Regulation, in accordance with their respective roles.

Delegated acts: the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of making amendments to the thematic priorities laid down in the Annex to the future Regulation. Following the publication of the Mid-term report and based upon the recommendations contained in the mid-term review report of the EIDHR II, the Commission shall adopt a delegated act amending the Annex to this Regulation by 31 March 2018.

Annexes: the future regulation contains an annex which defines the objectives and thematic priorities for assistance.

It should be noted that the draft Regulation as amended is accompanied by a series of declarations including:

• a joint interinstitutional statement on election observation missions stressing that up to 25% of the EIDHR budget should be devoted to the funding of election missions;
• a unilateral statement of the Commission on the strategic dialogue with the European Parliament prior to its programming.