13NFL1-Compulsory Voting Page 89 of 163 www.victorybriefs.com DEMOCRACY PROMOTION LOW VOTER TURNOUT HA RMS THE EU’S ABILITY TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY. Anthoula Malkopoulou postdoctoral researcher at the Finnish Academy Project, "Lost Voters Participation in EU elections and the case for compulsory voting, Centre for European Policy Studies Working Document No. July 2009. Secondly, the EU needs credibility for its democracy promotion projects. In the eyes of the world, the EU is indeed the largest humanitarian aid provider. With respect to other donors, it adopts a distinct aid strategy that strictly applies the principles of democracy and human rights. These principles, having their origin in the historical experience of war and military regimes in Europe during the last century, provide an uncontested common ground of conceptual understanding between Europeans. They produce a convergence of political attitudes that unites all member states and crafts a supranational identity, an image that is projected to the rest of the world. Human rights and democracy appear not only as general thematic priorities that mainstream development projects, but also as specific legal clauses that determine the conclusion of aid contracts. Therefore, the EU simply cannot afford to be criticised for the quality of its own democratic record. Participation and political inclusion are part and parcel of the democratic package and if the EU wants to support that package worldwide, it must adhere to these values itself.
