05 October 2022

EPC' Mucznik: The European Political Community: Time to invest in the power of democracies

A values-based European Political Community (EPoC) should clearly and unambiguously state that it expects its members to share a democratic and like-minded character. Rules, principles, and red lines should be established at the beginning and not halfway through the process.

 One of the greatest tests of the Prague summit will be how leaders navigate this delicate balancing act between the values-based aspirations of the EPoC and the heterogeneity of the group that is attending the summit.

Despite sparking fierce criticism and suspicion at first, French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea to create a European Political Community (EPoC) has since gained momentum. It is now up to European leaders from EU and non-EU countries to shape and give substance to what could otherwise turn into a massive political failure. This begs the question: what is the European Political Community’s added value in today’s geopolitical context, and what purpose could – and should – it serve?

The power of the EPoC should lie in its democratic and values-based identity

In her State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “This is the time to invest in the power of democracies”, and that the work “begins with the core group of our like-minded partners”. She unambiguously asserted that Russia’s war on Ukraine is about “autocracy against democracy” and that Europe’s democratic values are at stake.

She was right. The Freedom in the World Report 2022 shows that democracy has been declining worldwide for the past 16 years, while authoritarian rule has been expanding globally. Russia’s war against Ukraine has added another critical challenge to liberal democracy and accelerated this broader divide.

Yet, the EU remains, at its core, committed to democratic standards: while it faces the rise of illiberalism in some of its member states, the same report demonstrates that it remains the best performing region in the world.

In their efforts to give substance to the EPoC, European leaders should look no further. President von der Leyen provided the right framing for what the European Political Community should be about: a core group of like-minded partners committed to democracy.

What better purpose could there be for this organisation than to commit to protecting and defending democratic values at a time when those are increasingly and globally under siege? And what better purpose than to show that democracies, and like-minded allies, stand united against rising autocracy and Russia’s criminal actions?

In the short-term, this aspiration implies increasing democratic resilience in Europe against Russia’s aggression and jointly confronting the most immediate geo-economic and geopolitical consequences of the war: from food security and rising inflation to soaring energy prices and the need to reduce European’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels, to sanctions coordination, and the reconstruction of Ukraine.

There isn’t a single European-wide forum that horizontally tackles such a diverse range of topical issues that result from today’s context.

But European leaders ought to think also about the long-term purpose of the EPoC beyond jointly addressing the consequences of the war in Ukraine. Increasing democratic resilience implies addressing the broader global divide between democracies and autocracies, as well as countering the rise of authoritarian powers. This could include tackling foreign interference in elections, disinformation campaigns, or the quieter yet pervasive economic and political meddling of foreign powers in our societies. The EPoC’s focus could also be on how European countries can collectively support democratic forces and opposition parties in their midst and in countries of authoritarian rule. Collectively strategizing about how to uphold and restore credibility in the international rules-based order seems like a fitting purpose as well.

EPC

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