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Panel discussion on State-building, democracy and corruption: Money in politics in the Eastern neighbourhood

September 05, 2016

Brussels - The European Endowment for Democracy (EED) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) are hosting a high-level panel discussion on State-building, democracy and corruption: Money in politics in the Eastern neighbourhood.

Political dynamics affect economic governance in East European countries. In this region, the interdependency of politics and social-economic matters has usually worked to the detriment of the latter. One of the key political obstacles to efficient public finance management is corruption, as it damages the European Union’s eastern neighbours’ economies, and keeps social and living standards low. Furthermore, it also poses a fundamental challenge to democratic values as it allows the political process to be captured by a rich few.

The panel discussion will feature speakers from countries of the EU’s eastern neighbourhood and institutional representatives who can illuminate in-country perspectives related to the challenges of money in politics and its impact on state-building, democracy and corruption.  

Panellists are Yves Leterme, Secretary-General of International IDEA, Maciej Popowski, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG-NEAR of the European Commission, Hanna Hopko, Head of Foreign Affairs Committee in the Parliament of Ukraine, and Maia Sandu, Political activist, and former Minister of Education of Moldova.  Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director of the EED will make some preliminary opening remarks, and the panel discussion will be moderated by Anne Weyembergh, President of the Institute for European Studies (IEE) at the ULB (Université libre de Bruxelles). 

This debate on the intersection of money and politics in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood will address, inter alia, the following issues:

  • Key challenges to economic governance in Ukraine and Moldova,
     
  • Prospects for- and ways of overcoming corruption in the Eastern Neighbourhood,
     
  • Capture of the political process by a few, and reducing the influence of money in politics, and
     
  • Possible ways of external support (including by the EU and democracy supporting organisations) to address challenges related to economic governance and strengthening democracy.   

The event will take place at the offices of the European Endowment for Democracy, which is located at Avenue des Gaulois 29, Brussels, Belgium on Friday, 16 September 2016 at 11H00.  

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