By Carlotta Besozzi, Director, Civil Society Europe
Civic space – the space for civil society to operate – is shrinking
Restrictive regulations in many EU countries affect the ability of associations to operate or even register, or to organise peaceful demonstrations as evidenced by many civil society reports and by EU institutions through the annual Rule of Law reports. This situation is further exacerbated by the fact that many organisations in Europe are losing public funding or seeing increasing obstacles to donations, cross border philanthropy or crowd funding.
Global developments are also having an impact on civil society. Cuts to USAID funding are affecting international cooperation and organisations in Central and Eastern Europe. EU umbrella organisations have also seen their funding challenged. Operating grants at EU level have been removed from the EU4Health funding programme without explanation, despite earlier signatures of multiannual partnership agreements. We’re also witnessing political attacks at EU level on the transparency and accountability of EU funding to NGOs, culminating in the establishment of a working group within the European Parliament to scrutinise funding contracts composed of only conservatives and the far right. This is despite the lack of any evidence of misuse of funds as confirmed by a European Court of Auditors report.
How do these trends affect Europe? By restricting civil society’s ability to participate in policymaking, we risk creating an environment where only the most powerful have the opportunity to shape policy. EU policies must deliver for citizens, leaving no one behind.
Not all hope is lost
Earlier this year, the European Commission presented its Civil Society Strategy, a long-term commitment towards engaging with civil society, developing a favourable environment, and supporting it. The strategy recognises the key role of civil society in democracy: contributing to policy making, implementation and monitoring of policies, delivering community support and services, representing and empowering vulnerable groups, and fighting corruption.
Several aspects of the strategy are welcome, such as the Civil Society Platform – a regular and structured framework for dialogue between the Commission and civil society organisations. The commitment of adequate and sustainable financial support in the next EU long-term budget through the AgoraEU programme is greatly welcomed. Enhanced monitoring of civic space through an online knowledge hub, strengthening EU early warning systems with dedicated training to Member States and judiciary actors will be a key method to address shrinking civic space.
We also welcome the call to Member States to develop or reinforce national strategies on civic space. The Democracy Shield, another EU initiative aimed at protecting our democracy, should complement the strategy in creating a fully comprehensive approach to supporting, protecting, and empowering civil society.
Civil Society Europe is strongly committed to the successful implementation of the strategy. We will continue our work in supporting civil society organisations and working with the Commission, Member States and all stakeholders to turn this into a success.