35. Notes the overwhelming evidence from recent years indicating the crucial importance of EU foreign policy adequately addressing dynamic transition processes in third countries; encourages the EU to continue to learn from past experiences, both positive and negative, to avoid repeating certain policy mistakes, and to establish best practices in order to influence and consolidate democratisation processes; acknowledges the requirement for policy flexibility in diverging situations, and encourages the development of policy tools that could be applied in different transition scenarios in order to integrate human rights and democracy support measures into the EU approach in a flexible and credible manner; 36. Emphasises that political transition and democratisation need to be combined with respect for human rights, the promotion of justice, transparency, accountability, reconciliation, the rule of law and the establishment of democratic institutions, with due regard for gender equality and juvenile justice; stresses the importance of the right to redress concerning human rights abuses committed by former regimes; stresses that the EU should always advocate a context-sensitive approach to transitional justice while strictly upholding the principle of accountability for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law; 37. Emphasises that the EU should give its full support to countries that have dislodged authoritarian regimes and are undergoing a transition to democracy by supporting civil society as a crucial actor in advocating the rule of law, accountability and transparency and in promoting social movements for political change and participation; recalls that the police, the military and the judiciary are often used as mechanisms to perform systematic violations of human rights; stresses, therefore, that institutional reform of these bodies needs to provide for greater accountability and transparency in transition processes; 38. Considers the EU’s external financial instruments an important tool for promoting and defending EU values abroad; welcomes, in this context, the commitment to put human rights, democracy and the rule of law at the core of EU external action; calls for improvements in the coherence and effectiveness of different thematic and geographic instruments in order to achieve this strategic objective; 39. Strongly encourages the EU to support an active and independent civil society worldwide, both politically and financially, in particular through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR); suggests that opening -up European student exchange programmes to young people from non-EU countries and establishing training programmes for young professionals would foster the active participation of young people in democracy-building and would strengthen civil society; regrets that freedom of assembly, as a fundamental condition for any democratic development and as a particularly sensitive issue in transition countries, appears to have been overlooked in the EU‘s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy; calls on the EEAS and the Member States to draw up Guidelines on freedom of assembly; 40. Welcomes the establishment of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) and calls for it to engage in providing support for those striving for democratic change by offering them flexible funding tailored to their needs; calls for appropriate financial support for the EED to be guaranteed by the EU and its Member States; recalls the critical importance of avoiding any overlap between the mandate and activities of the EED and those of EU external instruments, especially those in the field of human rights and democracy; Enlargement policy, democratisation and human rights