According to the recently published Monitoring Matrix Regional Report for 2014, the legal environment for CSOs in the Western Balkans and Turkey remained relatively stable. Freedom of association, assembly, expression and information continued to be legally guaranteed in all countries of the region, with the exception of Turkey, however ensuring proper implementation and respect of the legal guarantees in practice remains to be challenging in most countries. CSOs continuously struggle to secure their financial sustainability in the whole region. State support in 2014 was too often distributed through non-transparent mechanisms, and remained insufficient. Governments continued to adopt national strategies for cooperation with CSOs and documents setting standards for the involvement of CSOs in policy and decision-making processes, but, again, the implementation of these documents in practice remains very problematic. The regional report, prepared by ECNL and BCSDN, summarizes the key findings from the eight country reports and highlights the priorities for intervention at the regional level towards creating a more enabling environment for civil society. In addition, the report provides an assessments vis-à-vis the EU Guidelines for Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement Countries for the period 2014-2020. The Report is available for download here.
[BCSDN]