As an emerging global power, the European Union is currently developing its foreign and security policy. It does so in the context of the 21st century, supported by a vibrant and active civil society. The EU therefore contains great potential for promoting new approaches to international conflict, and it has the chance to put the promotion of peace by nonviolent means at the heart of its external engagements.

The 'Europe, Vote for Peace!' campaign and the Peace Project Europe events drew together a large coalition of civil society organisations and active citizens. This coalition calls for the European Union to stay true to its founding values and to give priority both to violence prevention, and to civilian approaches to handling conflict. We are convinced that civilian alternatives, and a stronger involvement of civil society, will prove more effective, more sustainable and less cost-intensive than reactive crisis management and military endeavours.

Our main proposal is the creation of a European Civil Peace Service (ECPS) programme to mobilise European citizens to become actively involved in peace promotion and hands-on peace support in countries affected by violent conflict. An ECPS programme would provide a legal framework, public recognition and financial support for certified civil society organisations to recruit, train and deploy professional peace consultants and peace teams. These civil society peace experts would be placed in long-term projects in countries affected by violent conflict. Overall their task would be to support and protect local civil societies working for dialogue and reconciliation through nonviolent means.

Download here the full policy proposal "Towards a European Civil Peace Service" (coming soon!)

For further information you may also visit the webpages of the European Network for Civil Peace Services (EN.CPS) and the German Consortium Civil Peace Service.

Examples of NGOs working for peace in countries affected by violent conflict:

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP)
Forum Civil Peace Service (forumZFD)
EPLO Member Organisations (European Peacebuilding Liaison Office)

Our two other proposals supported by the 'Europe, Vote for Peace!' coalition are:

• A peacebuilding directorate under the new European External Action Service.

The Lisbon Treaty has brought reforms in the fields of foreign policy and external relations, notably the creation of a European External Action Service. We suggest using this moment of reform to upgrade the topics of crisis prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding within the new institutional structures. An innovation in this direction should also include further staffing and resources for support programmes and cooperation with civil society organisations.

In a similar vein the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office has issued a policy statement. Download here the EPLO statement

• More structured dialogue with civil society.

Much of the dialogue between EU institutions and civil society actors concerned with peace and conflict issues currently takes place on an ad-hoc basis. To make better use of the expertise available within civil society (including experience from field projects), to better recognise the mutual benefit of such dialogue and to strengthen cooperation in a spirit of true partnership, more structured frameworks and institutional mechanisms are needed.

Download here our policy proposals for more structured dialogue

A first series of events took place in Brussels from 12 to 15 October 2009, uniting NGO representatives and active citizens from all over Europe for a networking meeting and a series of public events.

On the 14th October 2009, participants connected to the 'Europe, Vote for Peace!' campaign took the floor at the European Parliament . The initiative, which was led by forumZFD and Nonviolent Peaceforce, aimed at promoting the campaign's three key proposals:

• The establishment of a peacebuilding directorate within the new European External Action Service (EEAS). The aim of this proposal is to strengthen the EU's institutional infrastructure for peacebuilding.

• To create a more structured dialogue with civil society organisations, supported by institutional mechanisms, in order to make better use of the expertise available within civil society.

• Institutional support for a European Civil Peace Service (ECPS) programme under which certified civil society organisations would send out specialist peace consultants and peace teams to support and protect local civil societies working for dialogue and reconciliation through nonviolent means.

Go the the Our Proposals page to read more about our policy recommendations.

As part of the Peace Project Europe events series, the Brussels events gathered more than 100 individuals from all over Europe. The European Parliament day was hosted by the Romanian Socialist MEP Corina Cretu, who is Vice-Chair of the Development Committee. The audience was made up of representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Members of European Parliament (MEPs) and their assistants, as well as officials from other European Institutions.

Seminar - Civil society working on conflict - Potentials for advancing the EU's role as a global actor for peace.

Panel discussion - Towards an European Civil Peace Service - Civil society proposals to the new European Parliament.

To support your initiatives, you can download here the following resources and templates:

Between 6 and 10 May 2010 overall some 100 NGO representatives and active citizens from all over Europe and France gathered in Lyon for a network meeting. On working days there were discussions and planning sessions of the European Network for Civil Peace Services (EN.CPS), the European membership of Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) and the members of the French Comité d'Intervention Civil de Paix (ComitéICP).

On the weekend of 8 and 9 May we organised a series of events to draw the public's attention to nonviolent alternatives of dealing with conflict.  The dates have a symbolic meaning: in France 8 May commemorates the victory over the Nazis in 1945, and on 9 May 1950 Robert Schuman made his famous declaration, proposing to pull together French and German steel and coal industries, a symbolic starting point of the European integration project.

To inform a broader public and citizens of Lyon, in the afternoon of 8 May the organisers brought together fellow activists from Lyon and different parts of France with participants of the European network meeting.  Accompanied by a Brasilian-style drum band, the crowd moved along the Rhône river, distributing some 1,500 flyers and inviting pedestrians to come to a roundtable discussion the following morning.  The demonstration culminated next to the Guillotière bridge where people stopped to listen to the drum concert, to receive material at several information stands and to visit an exhibition.

In the morning of 9 May some 70 people then joined the roundtable discussion.  Representatives from several associations presented their field and training work and asked for a stronger role of the European Union in supporting international peace initiatives, including the proposal to establish a European Civil Peace Service programme.  The following discussion saw contributions by Malika Benerab-Attou (Member of the European Parliament), Christiane Demontes (member of the Rhône regional senate) and Véronique Moreira (vice-president of the Rhône region, in charge of international solidarity).