The Council Conclusions on Democracy adopted in October 2019 sent an important political message about the European Union’s ambition on democracy in its external relations. The Joint Communication on the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy from 25 March 2020 matches the commitments of the Council into clear and operational guidelines for actions on the ground.

The European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), the European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP), and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) call on EU staff in Brussels and in Delegations worldwide to translate these strategic and operational ambitions into democracy support programmes to achieve the objectives of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).