European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

104 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETY—Important topics are the construction of peace and the preventionof conflict, due attention to emigration, democratic principles andgood governance.—Civil society gets a participative role. The new trends of co-operationtry to promote the commitment of civil society and social andeconomic actors. This requires information, support, institutionalstrengthening. This also demands a spirit of consultation of differentagents, the implementation of programmes and the developmentof networks between associated countries and the European Union.In the treaties, there is also a reinforcement of previous institutionsand agreements taking place at world level and a desire tostrengthen particularly the role of the United Nations.They also include strategies of poverty reduction and its eventualeradication, sustainable development and gradual integration in aglobal society. They also demand fostering the economic, social,cultural and environmental perspectives that make up developmentalong with liberalisation, decentralisation and rationalisation of theinstruments.These treaties outline a new form of co-operation for Europe: a cooperationwhich has a distinctive mark when compared with otherinternational actors and which can be identified by analysing theconstant features in the objectives declared:—Need to contribute to world’s good governance and, consequently,emphasis in underlining the need for the partners to respectinternational treaties and active participation in UN’s jointactions.—Commitment to the construction of peace, prevention of conflict,democracy; and the eradication of poverty.—Conviction that societies get weaker or stronger according to thelevel of practice of human rights.The combination of these elements gives the identity mark toEuropean institutional objectives in relation to third countries. Theseare elements, which are clearly identifiable, together with an emphasison structured dialogue on these issues and, specifically, on HumanRights. The inclusion of dialogue in the agreements could be understoodas a means for monitoring progress in some cases or as aposition of moving away from ethnocentric views of the past to aposition of dialogue. This means mutual consideration, understandingand learning of important issues such as human rights, in a frameworkwhereby partners are regarded as partners from the development of