On 17-18 June, ECF members and staff gathered in Warsaw for our Annual General Assembly. This year’s AGA was particularly special as in 2025, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary as a network.
Back in late 2005, representatives of associations and NGOs from across the continent gathered at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to establish the network. In the wake of the recent referendum votes against the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, the members of the new network sought to advocate for more avenues for participation in policy making and real civil dialogue, to address the growing gap between citizens and institutions.
ECF members attend 2025 Annual General Assembly in Warsaw
Since then, ECF has become an essential actor in European civil society, bringing together nearly 100 associations and NGOs across Europe, and serving as a leading advocate for democracy, solidarity, freedom and rights for all.
At the general assembly, members adopted the 2024 Annual Report, covering a hugely important period in Europe and the world, in addition to new, updated statutes, which better reflect the evolution of ECF’s mission.
The general assembly also voted to approve the membership applications of eight organisations: Centre for Democracy and Law – Miko Tripalo (Croatia); Citizen Participation Forum (Bulgaria); Institute for Activism and Social Change – IANS (Albania); IRIDIA Human Rights Defence Centre (Spain); Milion Chvilek (Czech Republic); New Europeans Association (United Kingdom); Per Esempio Onlus (Italy); and Glopolis (Czech Republic). Many of these organisations have long been close partners of ECF, and this cooperation is bound to strengthen as they join the network.
Celebratory dinner on the Vistula for the 20th anniversary of the ECF.
The assembly was also the moment to elect new members of the board of directors, with one-third of the board being up for re-election. While the Community Development Institute (North Macedonia) and the Institute of Public Affairs (Poland) decided to step down from the board, longtime member Filip Pazderski returned to the board in his new role at the Stefan Batory Foundation.
The assembly took place alongside a policy conference, co-organised by ECF, the National Federation of Polish NGOs and the Stefan Batory Foundation. You can watch the conference here!