New Alliances for Democracy: Engaging the Private Sector in Team Europe and Global Gateway

  • Country: Belgium (Brussels), with relevance to EU Member States and EU partner countries
  • Project Name: New Alliances for Democracy: Engaging the Private Sector in Team Europe and Global Gateway
  • Project duration: February – June 2026
  • Contact person: Sebastian Bloching bloching@elbarlament.org
  • Project objective: To strengthen collaboration between democracy actors, EU institutions, Member States, and private sector stakeholders by identifying practical ways to integrate democratic principles—including accountability, transparency, civic participation, and rule of law—into investment and development partnerships under the Team Europe and Global Gateway frameworks.

As the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy increasingly prioritises large-scale public and private investment partnerships, there is a growing need to ensure that democratic governance remains a central component of sustainable development and economic cooperation. While democratic principles are recognised within the Global Gateway approach, practical mechanisms for linking democracy support and private sector engagement remain underdeveloped.

This assignment, implemented under the Experts for Team Europe Democracy (TED) programme, supports the TED Working Group on New Alliances for Democracy. Through a high-level dialogue event in Brussels and a subsequent outcomes package, the initiative brings together representatives from EU institutions, Member States, development agencies, civil society organisations, media actors, financial institutions, and the private sector.

The project aims to identify common interests, practical entry points, and partnership opportunities between democracy support actors and private sector stakeholders. It will generate recommendations for future collaboration, contribute to Team Europe approaches, and support the integration of democratic principles into investment initiatives under the Global Gateway framework.

The assignment builds on previous TED research on civic space, local democratic governance, and private sector engagement, contributing to broader efforts to strengthen democratic principles in EU external action and international partnerships.