On 4 June, the European Civic Forum (ECF) launched its annual flagship Civic Space Report at a cross-party event in the European Parliament on 4 June 2025. The event brought together 25 civil society organisation representatives and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) from across Europe, Brussels-based networks and policymakers from the EU Institutions.
The event, co-hosted with the Greens/EFA and Renew Europe, was organised as part of the EU-co-funded Net4Defenders project, which aims to build the capacities of activists on the ground to monitor and respond to civic space restrictions and illiberal tendencies. The project partners shared their expertise on needs, gaps and strategies to protect HRDs and civic space.
During the event, ECF presented its new report findings, which highlighted that there is an “unprecedented and intensified attack” on civil society and civic freedoms, including restrictions on protest rights, challenges to non-profit funding, and smear campaigns.
This was followed by a roundtable discussion amongst policymakers, HRDs and civil society. During the discussion, we heard several testimonies from HRDs, including climate and environmental rights defenders, antiracism, youth and migration organisations and Palestine solidarity defenders. They provided an update on the situation on the frontline in several countries in Europe, including Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, Poland and Serbia.
The roundtable was attended by MEPs Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová (Renew, Slovakia, LIBE Vice-Coordinator), Benedetta Scuderi (Greens/EFA, Italy)and Racquel Garcia van Der Walle (Renew, Netherlands) who reflected on the need to support, protect and empower civil society, which should be crucially backed by funding resources.
In addition, participants reflected on the upcoming Civil Society Strategy, which could be coherent with other institutional strategies such as the Anti-Racism Strategy and LGBTQI+ strategy. They also discussed the need for an EU-wide protection mechanism and an Early Warning and Alerts system. In general, they highlighted the need for a more proactive institutional response to early warning signs and deteriorations in civic space.
Want to find out more about civic space in Europe? Read the latest Civic Space Report!