#StopAttackingNGOs
Enabling Environment Toolbox
Full Toolbox Access for Members Only
✅ Legally Binding
❌ Not Legally Binding
❗Relevant Content / Description
Treaty on European Union (TEU)
✅ Treaty on European Union (TEU)
❗Article 11(2):
“The institutions shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society.”
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
✅ Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
❗Article 15(1):
“In order to promote good governance and ensure the participation of civil society, the Union’s institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies shall conduct their work as openly as possible.”
NIDICI-Global Europe Regulation (2021/947)
❗Preamble §46:
“Civil society organisations shall play an important role in the Union’s external action, including in the implementation and monitoring of this Regulation.”
❗Preamble §47:
“The Union shall ensure that its actions are consistent with other relevant Union policies, particularly in relation to civil society participation and support.”
❗Article 12(d & e):
“The programming of actions under this Regulation shall include consultations with civil society organisations, and their participation in the design and implementation of programmes is mandated.
❗Article 20(2):
“The Union shall include local civil society organisations in the implementation of NDICI programmes, ensuring their involvement in the delivery of Union assistance.”
❗Article 27(2 & 3):
“The Union shall provide support to local civil society organisations, ensuring their involvement in the delivery of programmes and enhancing their capacities.”
2012 European Commission Communication: The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe's engagement with Civil Society in external relations
❗“The EU is committed to enhancing its engagement with civil society, recognising its vital role in the promotion of democratic governance and human rights.”
2017 Council Conclusions on EU engagement with civil society in external relations
2017 European Consensus on Development
❌ 2017 European Consensus on Development
❗“Civil society plays an essential role in promoting democracy, good governance, human rights, and sustainable development.”
Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part (2023/2862)
❗Provide numerous explicit mentions of the mandatory need for CSO engagement. The treaty promote, protect and fulfil human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance, paying particular attention to the place of CSOs.
DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance (OECD/LEGAL/5021)
2023 EC Recommendation on the participation of citizens and civil society organisations in public policy-making
2022 European Parliament resolution on the shrinking space for civil society in Europe
🕙 Ongoing ➡️Upcoming
🕙 2023 discharge: General budget of the EU - Commission / transparency of funding for CSOs
KEY MESSAGES
- Open letter from Environmental Civil Society Organisations to the European Commission (2024)
- Civil Society Europe statement: Contribution to the European Parliament’s debate and the European Commission’s statement: EU financing through the LIFE programme of entities lobbying EU institutions and the need for transparency (2025)
- Civil Society Europe statement: Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU: We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society (2025)
- European Court of Auditors special report: Transparency of EU funding granted to NGOs – Despite progress, the overview is still not reliable (2025)
- Civil Society Europe reaction to the ECA report (2025)
#StopAttackingNGOs
🕙 EC Guidance Note on funding for activities related to the development, implementation, monitoring and enforcement of Union legislation and policy
🔗 Link to the EC Guidance Note
➡️ EU Strategy to support, protect and empower civil society
KEY MESSAGES
➡️ Civil Society Platform
KEY MESSAGES
- CONCORD’s paper “7 practices for civil society participation in EU decision-making”
- Civil Society Europe statement on the proposal for a Civil Society Platform (2024)
➡️ Defense of Democracy Package: Directive on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries
KEY MESSAGES
Civil Society Europe statement: EU Foreign Interference Law: Is Civil Society at Risk? (2023)
➡️ Democracy Shield
KEY MESSAGES
European Partnership for Democracy’s position (2025).
➡️ OECD DAC Review of the implementation of the Recommendation on Enabling Environment
KEY MESSAGES
➡️ EU Multiannual Financial Framework
KEY MESSAGES
- CONCORD’s MFF position paper “Shaping International Partnerships: Budgeting our Common Future”
How to talk about civic space: a guide for progressive civil society facing smear attacks.
How to talk about civic space: a guide for progressive civil society facing smear attacks
– Israeli Butler
For campaigners who wish to push back against smear campaigns aimed at destroying public trust in CSOs that promote progressive causes.
Open letter: Ensuring a vibrant civic space in the European Union – civil society’s expectations for the next five years
Open letter: Ensuring a vibrant civic space in the European Union – civil society’s expectations for the next five years
– Gabriella Civico, President of Civil Society Europe & 415 Civil Society Organisations
Letter to express civic society’s expectations for the next five years of the EU post-2024 European elections.
Protecting democracy means protecting civic space
Protecting democracy means protecting civic space
– Israel Butler
This guide is intended for people who wish to convince decision-makers at EU-level to safeguard civic space.
Reanimating civil society: a lifeline guide for narrative change
The guide is meant to support those who want to explore tactics and strategies to respond to smear campaigns or negative stereotypes by creating new, positive narratives to counter them.
OECD - Practical Guide for Policymakers on Protecting and Promoting Civic Space
Practical Guide for Policymakers on Protecting and Promoting Civic Space
– OECD (2024), Practical Guide for Policymakers on Protecting and Promoting Civic Space, OECD Public Governance Reviews,
OECD Publishing, Paris
Addresses a critical need for concrete advice to protect and promote civic space, responding to government demand for specific guidance on actionable measures.
OECD - Towards Meaningful Civil Society Participation at the International Level: Success Factors, Opportunities, and Challenges
– Bozzini, A. and M. Pascual Dapena (2025), “Towards meaningful civil society participation at the international level: Success factors, opportunities and challenges”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 81, OECD Publishing, Paris
Aims to support international decision makers and CSOs in designing civil society participation mechanisms and processes that are structured, inclusive and effective.
Strengthening Civic Space: 10 takeaways for supporting an enabling environment for civil society
Strengthening Civic Space: 10 takeaways for supporting an enabling environment for civil society
– European Partnership for Democracy
Key takeaways underscoring the need for unwavering commitment to supporting civil society, the vital role of diplomatic engagement, and the importance of reassessing the expectations, approach, modalities and objectives of civil society support.
The power of narratives: a strategic approach to combatting disinformation in Europe
The power of narratives: a strategic approach to combatting disinformation in Europe
– Erika Sta el von Holstein, Andrzej Nowak, Marcin Napio rkowski, Sorhna Perrot
Explores how disinformation functions as a tool of division, targeting the evolving narratives that hold societies together.
CS4EU - Civil Society for EU campaign (2024)
CS4EU – Civil Society for EU campaign (2024)
Call on EU leaders and representatives to better recognise, support and engage with civil society, during the 2024 European Parliament elections.
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