BCSDN’s Advocacy Platform towards the EU

For years now, BCSDN has been following the EU’s approach in supporting civil society in the enlargement countries, advocating for recognizing and supporting the civil society as a competent and democratic partner in the EU accession process. We have based our advocacy on the findings from the monitoring conducted through our Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development, on our extensive experience as a network, and on the individual experience and knowledge of our member organizations which are the leading CSOs supporting civil society development in their respective countries.

With the upcoming changes in the EU enlargement policy and evolving approach in supporting civil society, and ahead of the EU’s planning of its Financial Support Framework for the period 2021 – 2027, we have prepared a framework document that is aimed to be our guide for achieving the change we want to see in the near future. With BCSDN’s Advocacy Platform we want to demonstrate transparent and accountable advocacy towards Brussel to our members, to the broader civil society in our region, and finally to the EU, by elaborating what should be changed in how the EU treats the civil society in the enlargement countries.

The document is based on the extensive exchanges and discussions taking place throughout the years within the network, with representatives of EU institutions, with other civil society organizations, and finally, based on the feedback gathered from our members.

Elaborating the current situation, the necessary improvements and what we consider success would look like, the document lays down three core objectives:

1. Comprehensive EU Framework for Civil Society Development in the Enlargement Countries
2. IPA III Supports Strong and Sustainable Civil Society
3. Advanced Policy Dialogue between the EU and Civil Society

In the upcoming period, we will continue working on the operational part of the Advocacy Strategy, more concretely on preparing the advocacy actions and on identifying key stakeholders and partners with whom we hope to work together in achieving such success.

In that respect, we welcome any feedback on the documents, and/or expression of interest for collaboration via our email executiveoffice@balkancsd.net.