The EU has been supporting civil society and the enabling environment in which civil society operates in Enlargement countries through the IPA Civil Society Facility Instrument that was established in 2008. Since then, BCSDN has been following this issue, and in beginning of 2013 published the its first analysis – the Infograph on IPA CSF 2007-2011.
As IPA I is closing down and in the frame of the planning of the EU assistance for the forthcoming period, BCSDN has updated and broadened the analysis to assess how the EU has supported the civil society in Western Balkans for the entire 2007-2013 period.
The analysis is presented in a 4 page policy brief that outlines how the EU assistance for civil society was used, the trends in implementing the assistance as well as the use of the IPA Cross-Border Instrument by CSOs. Finally, there is a comparison with the funding to CSOs provided by the state in 3 pilot countries, to assess who provides more funds to CSOs – the EU or the countries themselves – and what is its significance.
The policy brief is available for download in English, Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian language.