The Council of Europe’s Forum for the Future of Democracy was established in 2005 by the Warsaw Summit of Council of Europe Heads of State and Government as a multi-partner process aiming to strengthen democracy, political freedoms and citizens’ participation in member states.

By involving governments, parliaments, local and regional authorities and civil society, the Forum provides an inclusive framework within which innovative ideas and thinking on democratic governance are shaped and debated within a broad and cross-cutting approach. The Forum’s outcomes contribute to the formulation of priorities and policies at both national and European levels, thereby contributing to the enhancement of the Council of Europe’s democracy pillar.

The 2010 Session of the Forum for the Future of Democracy on “Perspectives 2020: Democracy in Europe - Principles and Challenges” took place in Yerevan, Armenia on 19-21 October. The opening debates set the scene by examining the main trends in, and threats to, democratic governance. This was followed by three thematic working sessions.

The first set of working sessions explored the ways in which the acquis of the Council of Europe’s legal standards and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights have helped to foster good democratic governance, thereby strengthening Europe’s soft security.

The second set of working sessions considered ways to address the widespread public discontent with political parties and traditional forms of representation. This included discussions about the impact of globalisation on decision-making processes and on public trust in institutions. Participants also explored innovative and inclusive forms of dialogue and representivity, taking care to ensure that these are truly democratic.

The third set of working sessions assessed the possible impact on democratic governance of the huge challenges facing our societies. On the global level these range from environmental degradation to economic crises and at the level of representation these include issues of corruption, populism and media manipulation.

The General Rapporteur of the Forum presented his conclusions in three sets of proposals of actions: to foster the construction of a pan-European platform of norms and standards for democratic governance; to address societal challenges, fragmentation and radicalisation through good democratic governance; and to confirm the Council of Europe’s role as the Forum for discussing democratic security and democratic governance in Europe.

Source: Proceedings of the 2010 Session of the Forum for the Future of Democracy