Definīcija:The European Union's Phare and Tacis Democracy Programme was launched by the European Commission in 1992 following the European Democracy Initiative of the European Parliament. The Democracy Programme aims to contribute to the consolidation of pluralist democratic procedures and practices, as well as the rule of law, with a view to supporting the overall process of economic and political reform in the central and eastern European countries (CEEC), and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union (NIS) and Mongolia.