The European Civic Forum took part in the 2022 European Commission consultation on the state of rule of law in the European Union.
Democracy, fundamental rights, and the rule of law are interlinked
The proper functioning of the rule of law cannot rely only on state institutions. It lives and breathes through culture, values, and principles embedded in societies. For this reason, the societal component of the rule of law ecosystem is vital to the check and balances allowing the proper functioning of institutions. An open, plural, and vibrant civic space is a precondition for democratic, cohesive and resilient societies. It is also an integral component of the rule of law as civic actors are vital players to strengthen, implement and, when needed, defend the rule of law. On a cultural level, civil society actively promotes and strengthens the rule of law by sharing information, promoting civic education, raising awareness, and understanding of the interlinks between fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law. It fosters a culture of active participation in public and community life, reinforcing the enjoyment and protection of human rights, civil liberties and inclusion for all, countering discrimination and disinformation. Civil society also plays an instrumental part in the implementation and functioning of the rule of law when it supports access to justice, monitors legality and proportionality of laws, measures, and practices, and supports the work of independent authorities and human rights bodies.
The rule of law backsliding that we observe in a significant number of European Union Member States, although with different intensities, reflects tensions and divisions that are present in our societies. The increasing social and economic vulnerabilities, people’s fear and feelings of insecurity for their future go hand in hand with distrust in the ability of democratic institutions and policies to deliver for all. Democracy, fundamental rights, and the rule of law are interlinked. Positive developments in one area trigger progress in all areas and vice-versa. Moreover, they are interlinked with the general cultural, socio-economic context. After decades of globalisation that led to growing inequalities, the general situation in the EU is not providing a framework spontaneously supportive to a reinforcement of the rule of law. Therefore, in the present context, the EU monitoring of the rule of law has a crucial importance to counter deterioration.
Civic space under pressure
Across EU member states, civil society is experiencing restrictions and challenges to its actions that affect its ability to fully act in the rule of law ecosystem. In particular, these challenges include:
- an unfavorable political landscape characterized by, on one hand, (1) institutional disregard to the role of civil society as intermediary between the citizens and their governing authorities, and, on the other hand (2) the growing threat of far-right narratives and attacks in the public space, that creates fear and further marginalises racialised communities, migrants and LGBTQI+ people and those who defend them;
- complex bureaucratic legal environment and restrictive laws that negatively affect civic freedoms and weak implementation of civil dialogue infrastructures;
- insufficient availability of funding for the civic sector to engage in rule of law and fundamental rights issues and growing obstacles (including bureaucratic ones) to access them;
- prosecution of human rights defenders and criminalisation of human rights actions.
The ECF response to the consultation is constituted of:
- Analysis of horizontal developments;
- Policy paper assessing the methodology of the European Commission rule of law review regarding civic space and involvement of civil society
As well as country submission:
- Bulgaria – By Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law
- Czecz Republic – By Glopolis with support of the Association for International Affairs (AMO), NGO info portal Svet neziskovek
- Croatia – By Gong (forthcoming)
- Denmark – by PhD Regitze Helene Rohlfing
- France – By Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH)
- Greece – By Dominika Spyratou, migration and human rights consultant
- Hungary – By Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation and information – Ökotárs
- Italy – By Libera contro le Mafie, ARCI, Osservatorio Repressione, Francesco Martone (In difesa di)
- Latvia – Civic Alliance Latvia
- Netherlands
- Poland – By National Federation of Polish NGOs – OFOP. With support of Institute of Public Affairs (Poland)
- Slovenia – By Center za za informiranje, sodelovanje in razvoj nevladnih organizacij – CNVOS, Center for Information, Cooperation and Development of Non- Governmental Organizations (forthcoming)
- Spain – By International Institute for Nonviolent Action – NOVACT
- Sweden – By Swedish National Forum for Voluntary Organisations