The DG NEAR Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement region outline the results towards which EU support to civil society in the enlargement region will aspire in the period 2021 – 2027. EU support to civil society will continue to focus on strengthening participatory democracies and the EU approximation and integration process in the Western Balkans and Turkey through a strengthened contribution by civil society.

The guidelines are anchored in a solid set of standards. These are based on the EU Rule of law Acquis (Chapter 23 “Judiciary and fundamental rights” and Chapter 24 “Justice, freedom and security”) and other relevant international and European standards. They are furthermore aligned with recommendations, opinions and guidelines adopted by international organisations and inter-governmental fora. They apply standards developed by civil society for civil society at the global level.

These Guidelines are for EU staff, civil society in the Enlargement region and IPA beneficiary policymakers and officials.

The Guidelines are published officially on the website of the European Commission, DG NEAR, here.

DG NEAR will periodically commission an assessment against the Guidelines. These assessments will provide evidence on the current state of civil society and a time series of data that will indicate positive or negative trends against the indicators.