Council for a Community of Democracies

2008 EU-U.S. Summit Declaration Includes Support for Community of Democracies
By Daniel Hollingsworth
June 17, 2008

Leaders of the European Union and the United States met in Brdo, Slovenia to address a number of shared challenges in the transatlantic partnership. The European Union was represented by the President of the EU Council and Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša; the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso; and the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, while the United States was represented by President, George W. Bush.

The summit focused on four key areas: regional and political issues, global security issues, present-day global challenges, and the bilateral transatlantic partnership. The resulting Summit Declaration identified the Community of Democracies as a multilateral initiative that the parties should encourage.

“We will continue acting jointly bilaterally and multilaterally to promote democracy, safeguard peace and human rights and in this regard encourage all governments to promote and protect their citizens' human rights. We have co-sponsored a Declaration in the United Nations General Assembly to highlight the plight of prisoners of conscience throughout the world in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We will continue to work cooperatively to promote democratic governance around the world and are prepared to encourage multilateral initiatives such as the Community of Democracies.”

Read the full 2008 EU-US Summit Declaration