- Unfounded attacks on NGO funding growing in EU, national parliaments
- Civil society increasingly cast as “foreign agents”
- New anti-protest legislation proposed in 7 EU countries
Civil society continued to come under attack in 2025, with EU policies now playing a key role, according to a leading European NGO.
The report, written by the European Civic Forum and its partners on the ground, and launched on Wednesday at a cross-party event in the European Parliament, documents the environment for civil society groups and activists in the EU and Western Balkans. It finds that restrictions on civil society are becoming institutionalised and mainstreamed across the continent in 2025, including unfounded accusations against NGOs in the European and national parliaments, the spread of “foreign agents” legislation and rhetoric, and restrictions on protest rights.
“From the criminalisation of activists and protest movements to smear campaigns launched in the European Parliament, our findings show a clear decline in civic freedoms in 2025.
“We can now see a clear interplay: restrictions in member states are being reinforced in Brussels, while EU policies are providing cover for national crackdowns on civil society.” said Aarti Narsee, Senior Policy Officer at the European Civic Forum.
From smear campaigns to institutionalised harassment
The report argues that some MEPs are “manufacturing suspicion” of NGOs, by making “unfounded” accusations of the improper use of public funds[1] and setting up a “scrutiny working group” in the European Parliament — dismissed as a “NGO witch hunt” by liberal and progressive parties[2] — in which members have sought to undermine civil society’s access to funding and right to participate in decision-making.
According to the report, similar dynamics have been observed in at least five EU countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia. For instance, in Austria, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) initiated an extensive parliamentary inquiry into the funding of NGOs.[3] Meanwhile, in Germany, a parliamentary inquiry into “political neutrality” of NGOs, launched by the governing CDU/CSU, led to false and distorted narratives directed against civil society spread initially through social media and right-wing populist platforms, but now entering the mainstream.[4]
“Our report exposes a new push inside the European Parliament to institutionalise attacks on NGOs and roll back the consensus that public funds should support independent watchdogs and human‑rights defenders.” said Natacha Kazatchkine, Secretary General of the European Civic Forum.
“Foreign agents” laws become part of the European authoritarian playbook
The authors highlight an alarming use of laws and rhetoric seeking to discredit civil society organisations as “foreign agents”. Draft legislation targeting foreign funded organisations was published in several countries including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Meanwhile, the authors highlight how even laws that have been withdrawn are leaving a lasting stigmatising effect on NGOs. The report also argues that the EU’s defence of democracy directive, which civil society has warned risks being used to stigmatise NGOs, has already been used by national actors to justify their more dangerous laws.
Repression on peaceful protest movements now a sustained pattern
The report also finds that the criminalisation of protest movements is becoming normalised across Europe. New restrictive laws were proposed or passed in 7 EU countries in 2025, adding to an already alarming picture. In Italy, the controversial security decree, which local civil society says is the greatest attack on protest rights in the history of the country, introduces new criminal offences and expands police powers to restrict protests.[5] As Serbia’s massive anti-government protest movement faced serious repression, the government made changes to the criminal code, seeking to criminalise blockades with up to a year imprisonment.[6]
Meanwhile, the use of the use of excessive force by law enforcement, arbitrary detentions, and police harassment were documented in at least 9 EU countries.
Civil society holds the line — but needs support
Despite the overall deterioration of civic space across Europe in 2025, the report highlights how civil society continued to adapt, resist, and secure measurable impacts, particularly through advocacy, strategic litigation, and sustained mobilisation.
Highlighting the publication of the EU’s first-ever Civil Society Strategy in late 2025, which sets out a framework for supporting, funding, and protecting non-profits and human rights defenders (HRDs), as a positive development, the report authors warn that such efforts are undermined by the restrictions outlined above.
“The EU has tools and commitments to protect civic space, and they must be strengthened and delivered. But let’s be clear: safeguarding democracy ultimately depends on real vigilance, early alerts, and decisive action when the system fails,” said Giada Negri, Deputy Secretary General, European Civic Forum.
ENDS
Press contact:
Benjamin Goodwin, Communications and Campaigns Officer, European Civic Forum
About the European Civic Forum
The European Civic Forum (ECF) is a pan-European network of over 100 associations and NGOs across 30 European countries. Founded in 2005 by our member organisations, we have spent nearly two decades working to protect civic space, enable civic participation, and build civil dialogue for more equality, solidarity, and democracy in Europe.
About Monitoring Action for Civic Space
Monitoring Action for Civic Space (MACS) is a project that was funded by the EU’s Citizens, Equalities, Rights, and Values (CERV) programme, which ran from April 2024-April 2026. The project focused on creating a common approach for monitoring civic space. As part of the project, partners developed a new methodology for monitoring civic space, an Early Warning and Alert System to alert institutions, civil society, media and donors about civic space developments, and seven in-depth country reports, which piloted the methodology. The MACS consortium is made up of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law, European Civic Forum, Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Nyt Europa, Le Mouvement associatif, Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, Netherlands Helsinki Committee, National Federation of Polish NGOs and the Civil Society Development Foundation.
Some country chapters of the Civic Space Report were initially published under the MACS project. They have undergone minor edits to align with the wider report.
[2] https://civicspacewatch.eu/alert/eu-meps-launch-controversial-ngo-scrutiny-group/
[3] https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000285018/die-regierung-tappt-bei-ngos-in-die-falle-der-fpoe
[4] https://www.maecenata.eu/2025/12/02/anti-ngo-diskurs-social-media-analyse/
[5] https://www.politico.eu/article/giorgia-meloni-security-decree-anti-protest-law-italy/
[6] https://www.serbianmonitor.com/en/what-is-changing-in-the-criminal-code-and-does-it-have-anything-to-do-with-the-protests-in-serbia/