For years now, BCSDN has been following the EU’s approach in supporting civil society in the enlargement countries and has been advocating the civil society to be recognized and supported 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 the Western Balkans and Turkey.
Our network has regarded the Guidelines for EU support to Civil Society in the Enlargement region, 2014-2020 as the key document for ensuring enabling environment for the civil society to play a significant role in the countries’ development and the EU enlargement process, and we have been invested in their development, promotion and implementation.
With this in mind, we appreciate the opportunity to provide early feedback on the First Draft of the new Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement region, 2021-2027 (the Guidelines) via the Public Consultation Process organized by EU TACSO 3 on the Preparation of the Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement region, 2021-2027.
Our input has been based on our joint expertise and is of the individual feedback provided by our members.
Lastly, we appreciate our gratitude for the opportunity for providing feedback to the Draft Guidelines at this stage of the process.
In this document, we present you our responses to the structured consultation.