For the 8th consecutive year, BCSDN has analyzed how the European Commission (EC) has treated the issue of civil society development and assessed the progress made in the Enlargement countries within the Enlargement Strategy 2016 and the 2016 Country Annual Reports that have been published recently. In brief, this year’s analysis shows that civil society has indeed become one of the key criteria for EU accession, and the EC has put an increasing attention to the enabling environment for civil society development in the Enlargement countries through more systematic and unified monitoring methodologies. With regards to the future reports, the EC should aim to provide clear progress (or its lack) against EU CS Guidelines targets to show concrete results and achievements with the Guidelines and needed adjustments on the road ahead to 2020. Finally, the EC should continue its support to critical and strategic national and regional civil society initiatives that it has helped to develop and shape. Read the full analysis here.
Source: BCSDN