Post Summit for Democracy Dialogue: Analyzing country commitments and exploring opportunities for engagement

The International Institute for Electoral and Democracy Assistance (International IDEA) and the European Commission held a hybrid event in Brussels on 20 June 2022; Post Summit for Democracy (S4D) Dialogue: Analysing country commitments and exploring opportunities for engagement.

Representatives from the EU, EU Member States, government representatives from outside the EU and civil society exchanged insights on how to galvanize momentum and renew concrete commitments; how stakeholders can contribute to the Summit and make sure it is inclusive; and how joint efforts, especially through the Team Europe Democracy (TED) initiative, can bring added value to the Summit. International IDEA also presented the main findings from its recent report, ‘Unpacking the Summit for Democracy Commitments’ which includes in-depth analysis of country commitments and a presentation of options and opportunities for the Year of Action and second Summit.

Check out the opportunities, challenges, perspectives from the discussion, and main takeaways from the report on the International IDEA website.

Three recommendations were made ahead of next year's Summit:

1. Consideration should be given to enhancing transparency around the invitation criteria to the second Summit. Key to this process could be the use of democracy data from International IDEA and other organizations to support finding the right balance.
2. Accountability mechanisms should be clarified. It is currently not clear to whom the commitments are made—to the US government, the international community of democracies, or the citizens. Commitments should be made to the citizens, but this process will require more citizen involvement and transparency.
3. The current timeframe and commitments will not be enough to reverse the global trend towards authoritarianism. Democracy takes time to build, and we must already be thinking about what comes next and how this should be done. The process after the second Summit is uncertain, offering the opportunity for the democracy community to present innovative ideas for the path forward.