The European Foundation for Democracy (EFD) is a policy centre and a registeredEU lobbyist organization based in Brussels, Belgium. Its activities focus on counter-radicalisation, security and the promotion of the
European values
European values are the norms and values that Europeans are said to have in common, and which transcend national or state identity. In addition to helping promote European integration, this doctrine also provides the basis for analyses that char ...
of democracy and individual freedoms. Its experts produce analyses and publications concerning the various threats coming from extremist ideologies, recommending measures and policies to counter these phenomena.
EFD also organises public events, policy briefings and roundtable discussions where relevant experts debate specific challenges posed by extremist forces, in order to stimulate the debate and provide the policy community with recommendations on how to tackle such threats.
History
EFD was founded in November 2005. Documents registering EFD at the Belgian ministry of Justice date 24 May 2006. Its co-founders were Roberta Bonazzi, Nicola Dell’Arciprete and Miguel Papi Boucher. Dell’Arciprete previously worked on staff of an Italian MEP from far-right Lega Nord, during which he participated in a tour hosted by
Ateret Cohanim
Ateret Cohanim ( he, עמותת עטרת כהנים ''lit.'', "Crown of the Priests"), also Ateret Yerushalayim, is an Israeli Jewish organization with a yeshiva located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It supports the creatio ...
. On 15 September 2011, the organization was officially registered as an organization that works to influence the lawmaking process of the EU institutions.
Activities and political stance
The EFD has campaigned on issues that echo policies advocated by the establishment in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and it has been described as a pro-Israel group. The EFD's president denies allegations of being pro-Israel, saying "We try to not get involved in the Israel-Palestine issue.... We don't feel able to add anything. We don't think we can do it well."
EFD is an advocate of adding Hezbollah of Lebanon to the European Union's list of terrorist organizations, and has proposed a ban on television networks
Al-Manar
Al-Manar ( ar, المنار, ''al-Manār'', lit='' The Lighthouse'') is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the political party Hezbollah,
and
Al-Aqsa TV
Al-Aqsa TV ( ar, قناة الأقصى) is a television channel run by Hamas, which is based in the Gaza Strip. Its programs include news and propaganda promoting Hamas, children's shows (such as ''Tomorrow's Pioneers'', that promotes violence ...
by the EU. It has hosted events calling for a tougher action against
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
Farid Hafez
Farid Hafez (born on 23 December 1981) is an Austrian political scientist and Visiting Professor of International Studies at Williams College and Senior Researcher at Georgetown University's The Bridge Initiative. Before his role at the Georgeto ...
maintains that the EFD hails from a politically
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
milieu, and its "fellows are located in the corridors of power", adding that " eir experts produce knowledge for highly subsidized state institutions".
Allegations of Islamophobia
Academics Sarah Marusek and David Miller have written that the EFD is "closely associated with a transatlantic network of neoconservative and Islamophobic activists";. Narzanin Massoumi, Tom Mills and Miller have commented that the organization is "promoting a range of issues that include Islamophobia",.
Farid Hafez
Farid Hafez (born on 23 December 1981) is an Austrian political scientist and Visiting Professor of International Studies at Williams College and Senior Researcher at Georgetown University's The Bridge Initiative. Before his role at the Georgeto ...
has conducted a
case study
A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...
on activities of the EFD in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and Sweden,. Hafez claims works published by the organization put Austrian Muslim Youth (''Muslimische Jugend Österreich'') and Young Muslims of Sweden (''Sveriges Unga Muslimer'') under government pressure by falsely linking them to Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. He states that EFD systematically produces works that follow a strategy of defamation and
delegitimization
Delegitimisation (also spelled delegitimation) is the withdrawal of legitimacy, usually from some institution such as a state, cultural practice, etc. which may have acquired it explicitly or implicitly, by statute or accepted practice. It is a so ...
of actors of the
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.radical and Islamist.
Funding
EFD is described as a "capital darling", i.e. a NGO which is based on capital, as well as an organization that enjoys support from several wealthy donors.
It has received substantial contributions from the
United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
, for example out of EFD's declared €520,000 budget between January and September 2012, Some €70,000 was from Department of State.
In 2009,
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank and registered lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C., United States.
The group's political leanings have been described as hawkish and neoconservati ...
(FDD) provided a direct grant of $478,829 to EFD.
In addition, 'Friends of the European Foundation for Democracy' (Friends of EFD), a
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
-based tax-exempt organization is dedicated to raise funds for the EFD, which summed a total of $2,688,500 between 2011 and 2013.
Known co-funders of the Friends of EFD, and the amount of money they donated to the organization from 2009 to 2013 is as follows:
* Bodman Foundation ($50,000)
* Hochberg Family Foundation ($50,000)
* Marcus Foundation ($800,000)
* Foundations affiliated to Paul Singer ($1,000,000)
The Transparency Register data of EFD for 2018 fiscal year, declared zero funding received from national sources and local/regional sources, listing all of its budget coming from other sources.
Ties to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
According to Farid Hafez, EFD maintains organizational as well as financial ties to the U.S.-based
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank and registered lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C., United States.
The group's political leanings have been described as hawkish and neoconservati ...
(FDD). The official website of FDD, as of 2007, stated that it works in a "partnership" with the EFD. Scholars Narzanin Massoumi, Tom Mills and David Miller argue that EFD actually "originates" from FDD, calling it the latter's "EU offshoot" and categorizing it among the "European-based neocon outfits... set up by US parent organisations". The two organizations also share the same major donors.
Roberta Bonazzi, the EFD's director said in 2014 that FDD and EFD are "two completely separate organisations, financially and legally separate"; however after being asked about US documents about a financial relationship between the two, replied: "that is because most of our fundraising is done in the US. he FDD wasour contact. Grants were sent to them and then to us."