We contributed to the report of the European Civic Forum, a network of nearly 100 associations and NGOs from 30 European countries, and its report covers the state of civil society in 15 of them. On behalf of Glopolis and NeoN, we provided input for the chapter on the Czech Republic.
The report reveals that civil liberties in Europe have deteriorated over the past five years. After taking office in 2019, the European Commission's leadership has committed to a "new impetus for European democracy" and the Commission has put in place a number of important measures to promote democracy. But the report reveals that the space for civil society has shrunk despite this. Several EU Member States have even seen a significant deterioration in civil liberties, including countries such as France, Italy, Greece and Spain. This suggests that the EU needs to do much more to protect democracy.
In 2023, the space for civil society in the EU was further diminished, for example by legislation aimed at transparency of foreign funding, which is reminiscent of Russian-inspired foreign agent laws and likely to stigmatise civil society.
Legal harassment, (strategic lawsuits by SLAPPs), criminalisation and hate attacks remain an ongoing problem
Systematic civil society engagement in policymaking remains weak and organisations face a wide range of financial challenges.
In the Czech Republic, civic space is rated as open, but public trust in the government is low due to dissatisfaction with domestic politics and socio-economic problems. The European Commission has recommended improving media independence, and an amendment to the media law was a step forward, but media ownership remains concentrated in the hands of oligarchs. Public funding of NGOs is a problem due to bureaucratic processes and lack of multi-year funding, which negatively affects organisations promoting citizens' rights. Despite some good practices in involving the public in decision-making processes, there is a lack of coordination and sharing of these practices, and there is no comprehensive vision for civil society participation.
It is recommended to ensure political support and institutional anchoring of citizens' participation in public decision-making and to publicly support and recognise the role of NGOs in this process. Furthermore, multi-year funding for all NGOs, systemic changes in public funding, support for the digitisation of NGOs and protection of organisations working on LGBTQI rights should be ensured. It is also necessary to amend the Whistleblower Protection Act and strengthen the relevant capacities in the Ministry of Justice for its implementation.
The full report, including country chapters, is available here: https://civic-forum.eu/civic-space-report-2024
