Summary of Recommendations
The EU’s assistance and role in democracy building would need to be carried out in an
incremental way, taking a long-term perspective. The limited scope for the democracy
agenda in South East Asia would require the EU to confine its programmes to a number
of specific agendas that were comfortable for all ASEAN member states – especially
the non-democratic ones. The EU could focus on less sensitive issues such as the
strengthening of governance capacity, combating corruption, humanitarian relief,
disaster management and promoting bureaucratic reform.
The EU needs to intensify its support to democratizing states in ASEAN in their
efforts to consolidate democracy. This approach requires the EU to work with the more
democratic members of ASEAN on a bilateral basis. In implementing this approach,
the EU needs to go beyond human rights and electoral assistance to work on key issues
such as strengthening the party system, the role of parliaments, security sector reform
(with a special focus on military reform), legal reform, and the role of the media and
civil society organizations. More comprehensive country-specific strategies and agendas
need to be developed in this regard.
The EU should also link itself to, and establish a framework of participation in, regionwide
democracy projects outside the framework of ASEAN. Such linkages would assist
‘local champions’ of democracy building to provide a platform for learning about and
information sharing on democracy among existing and aspiring democracies in the
region.
Despite the tension it generates in EU-ASEAN relations, the promotion of human
rights remains an important area for EU-ASEAN cooperation. The EU could provide
technical assistance to the ASEAN Human Rights Body once it is established. In
parallel with this official assistance, the EU could support the strengthening of regional
networks of human rights NGOs to serve as sounding boards, as watchdogs for the
ASEAN Human Rights Body and as platforms for alternative views on the human
rights situation in the region.
The EU should develop and build on cooperation in areas where the role of the EU
has been seen as positive, even though they might not be directly related to democracy
building per se. The positive and successful role of the Aceh Monitoring Mission in
facilitating the implementation of the Aceh peace accord has raised the profile of the
EU’s capacity to carry out conflict resolution and peace-building. The EU could build
on this success in order to raise its profile as a reliable partner in the region.