Democracy Rights and Values Empowered by Civil Society Part One

ongoing

CSE will reinforce the coordination, the exchange of good practices, the mutual understanding and the capacity building of civil society at EU level on fundamental rights and civic engagement. Our activities in 2026 will contribute to strengthening citizens’ participation in democracy, upholding the role of civil society in safeguarding and promoting fundamental rights and the rule of law, and enhancing quality management within the civil society sector. We will work on the European Democracy Action Plan by providing input into the Democracy Shield’s design and the implementation of the Democracy Package recommendations. We will start to develop a joint civil society report on the state of democracy. We will enhance civil dialogue and civic space by identifying key trends and country-specific recommendations and work on an early warning mechanism and protection hubs for civil society and human rights defenders. We will build a coalition on an action plan for a resilient civil society with a first output on guidelines for an enabling civic space at EU level. We will step up our work on social economy, including by promoting the proposal for a European Cross-Border Association. We will reinforce civil dialogue by analysing obstacles with national civil society platforms, by contributing to the Civil Society Platform’s success, and by developing concrete guidelines for civil dialogue in EU institutions. We will be actively involved in discussions on the shaping of EU (Treaty) reforms in light of the Union’s possible enlargement, and in the preparation of the Multiannual Financial Framework from a fundamental rights perspective. We will celebrate our tenth anniversary, as the first structured European organisation gathering civil society across different policy fields, with a high-level event, a publication on the history of civil society, a new visual identity and the start of a communication campaign on the added value and achievements of civil society at EU level.