{"id":31968,"date":"2025-09-05T09:16:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T09:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/?p=31968"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T12:04:48","slug":"submission-to-the-call-for-evidence-for-the-eu-civil-society-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/2025\/09\/05\/submission-to-the-call-for-evidence-for-the-eu-civil-society-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Submission to the Call for Evidence for the EU Civil Society Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><b>59 organizations, one united call: Recognize CSOs from the enlargement region in the EU Civil Society Strategy!<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The global crisis of democratic legitimacy and the regression of the rule of law have pushed civic space into a downward spiral, with enlargement countries proving especially vulnerable. Weak institutions and geopolitical pressures leave civic actors more exposed to repression, co-optation, and marginalisation. Without a dedicated, context-sensitive approach, the EU risks weakening one of the few remaining sources of democratic resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s civil society in enlargement countries is tomorrow\u2019s EU partners. Their early and structured engagement strengthens democratic integration and the legitimacy of policymaking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, the upcoming EU Civil Society Strategy must look beyond member states and empower civil society in enlargement countries &#8211; or risk undermining both enlargement policy and the EU\u2019s role as a defender of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/info\/law\/better-regulation\/have-your-say\/initiatives\/14588-EU-Civil-Society-Strategy-\/F3631294_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A coalition of 59 organizations<\/a> from the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, EU member states, and international think tanks has submitted recommendations to ensure the upcoming EU Civil Society Strategy strengthens and empowers civil society in the enlargement region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our key asks:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognize enlargement CSOs as reform drivers &amp; equal partners in EU integration;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protect civic space from repressive laws, SLAPPs, surveillance &amp; GONGOs;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secure sustainable &amp; accessible funding, beyond IPA, including new EU programmes;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Guarantee meaningful participation in policymaking, accession &amp; monitoring;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Full submission to the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">European Commission<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with 19 recommendations &amp; a list of endorsing organizations: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/v.2-Coalition-of-59-CSOs_-Submission-to-the-Call-for-Evidence-for-the-EU-Civil-Society-Strategy-v4.9.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Submission to the Call for Evidence for the EU Civil Society Strategy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>59 organizations, one united call: Recognize CSOs from the enlargement region in the EU Civil Society Strategy! &nbsp; The global crisis of democratic legitimacy and the regression of the rule of law have pushed civic space into a downward spiral, with enlargement countries proving especially vulnerable. Weak institutions and geopolitical pressures leave civic actors more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[251,1115,1125,1126,3],"tags":[1387,929,1237],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31968"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31991,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31968\/revisions\/31991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}