In its latest blogpost, ECNL reflects that the COVID-19 has prompted CSOs’ solidarity and coordination. CSOs played a vital role in maintaining governments’ accountable responses, which have heightened the existing challenges to the civil society enabling environment under the pandemic pretext. In the name of public health protection, some European states adopted unbalanced emergency legislative procedures, while others provided little or no opportunities for public consultation. The “closing” of civic space had accelerated since the start of the pandemic when the governments banned the right to physically assemble and introducing measures to curbing COVID-19-related disinformation, affecting free speech and access to information. The article concludes that the EU needs to change the narrative to protect civic space from sustaining a democratic lead and credibility and include CSOs in a regular and structured dialogue with the EU institutions to promote democracy and fundamental rights. Read more here.
Source: ECNL