Civic Space Watch

5 ACTI VIZENSHIP CIVIC SPACE WATCH REPORT 2020 STORIES FROM THE LOCKDOWN ACTI VIZENSHIP 5 ACTI VIZENSHIP CONTENTS 7 LEARNING FROM CIVIC SPACE WATCH 8 CiviC spaCe under loCkdown Civil soCiety unloCks its potential By Giada Negri, European Civic Forum 9 1. COVID-19 shakes the socio-econOmIC anD pOlItICal lanDsCape 12 2. the deterioration Of civic freedoms contInues 13 2.1 RestRicting fReedom of association using tRanspaRency legislation 15 2.2 Closing the public space, RestRicting the Right to assembly 18 2.3 secuRitising the public space, policing dissent 27 2.4 Legislative changes RestRict fReedom of assembly beyond COVID-19 29 2.5 data gatheRing and suRveillance 2 31 3. Civil dialOgue Is ChallengeD 31 3.1 TheRe aRe many obstacles, but also some positive examples 33 3.2 DisRegaRding civil dialogue mechanisms, oveRlooking civil society voices 34 3.3 Pandemic as an oppoRtunity to change the Rules and ‘empty’ civil dialogue 35 3.4 Locking down infoRmation duRing COVID-19 36 4. EconOmic diffiCultIes Of the seCtOr sOar DurIng the CrIsIs 37 4.1 the sectoR is faced with economic difficulties 39 4.2 Public suppoRt to the sectoR comes late and is often unfit foR the challenges faced 41 4.3 The cRisis as a dRiveR to fuRtheR Reduce and RestRict public suppoRt to civic oRganisations 43 5. Civil society unlocks Its pOtentIal 51 The epidemiC has puT us all on The same fooTing Women refugees seW masks for everyone in poland Interview with Khedi Alieva, Fundacja Kobiety Wędrowne / Women on the Road Foundation 55 In spain The pandemiC exposed The fragiliTy of iTs Care sysTem an opportunity to set a neW Course Interview with Carol Elias, Sedoac Servicio Doméstico Activo ACTIVIZENSHIP #5 CONTENTS 59 LGBTI 103 GREECE 62 LGBTi CommuniTies are vulneraBle 106 COVID-19 adds up To The unresolved in The healTh Crisis eConomiC and migranTs’ Crises NGOs shift their Work government toughens stanCe against from advoCaCy to humanitarian aid Civil soCiety By Akram Kubanychbekov and Manon Yzermans, ILGA By Dominika Spyratou, SolidarityNow Europe 115 ProTecting The mosT vulneraBle means proTecting us all migrants and refugees’ Communities 69 CZECHIA Want to Be part of the disCussion on the solutions 72 Civil soCieTy in Times of pandemiC Interview with Moussa Sangaré, Ivorian Community viCtim of the virus, or more resilient of Greece, Greek Forum of Refugees than ever? By Pavel Havlicek, Association for International Affairs 81 Love Beyond Borders 119 IRELAND lgBti aCtivists advoCate for Couple reunifiCation 122 Civil liBerTies are Crash-TesTed Interview with Czeslaw Walek and Filip Milde, We are during The pandemiC the vital role of CiviC advoCaCy fair 3 By Deirdre Ní Cheallacháin, Irish Council for Civil Liberties 87 131 CiviC actors were CruCial GERMANY To respond To The Crisis 90 CondiTions for Civil soCieTy are good toWards a partnership approaCh But CiviC aCtors Were negleCted during BetWeen the state and the CiviC seCtor the emergenCy Interview with Ivan Cooper, The Wheel By Siri Hummel und Rupert Graf Strachwitz, Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society 97 SolidariTy is more Than a practiCe 137 SLOVENIA We need to ask Who is paying for the Crisis 140 IlliBeral governmenT Interview with Rebecca Rahe and Corinna Genschel, Takes over The CounTry #Unteilbar Core foundations of demoCraCy are eroded By Nika Kovač, Research Institute 8th of March 149 Defending freedom and demoCraCy raising voiCes against inequalities Interview with Nika Kovač, Inštitut 8. marec - Institute of the 8th March STORIES FROM THE LOCKDOWN ACTI5 VIZENSHIP By Raffaella Bolini, Jean-Marc Roirant, Co-presidents, Alexandrina Najmowicz, Director 8th December 2020 nyone who has spent time in those regions of the world affected by conflicts, wars, or natu- THE INVISIBLE ral disasters, has certainly found in the most dramatic situations a civil society organisa- 4 tion or a group of volunteers helping people GUARDIANS Ain need. With few means and little power, they are often the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave. Nowadays, it’s our continent, together with the whole world, that is going through a huge and unex- OF EUROPEAN pected emergency. The Covid-19 pandemic is shaking our lives, our societies, economies and democracies. We cannot capture the panoramic picture of all DIGNITY civil society activities in times of crisis. This issue of Activizenship provides a few snapshots, showing that in addition to the usual civil society organisations, an enormous number of spontaneous groups have reacti- vated civic spirit in our communities, enabling mutual care and solidarity. From the very first days of the pandemic crisis, civic organisations and groups mobilised their means and know-how, stretching way beyond their usual capacities to assist those in need, where needed. They deliver food, medicines, and provide essential services to vulnerable people that often happen to be the poorest. They offer psychological support, legal aid or shelter to the homeless, migrants and refugees, support against domestic violence, fundraise for hospi- tals... And where governments have used the crisis to seize public space and shrink fundamental rights and ACTIVIZENSHIP #5 By Raffaella Bolini, Jean-Marc Roirant, Co-presidents, Alexandrina Najmowicz, Director 8th December 2020 the rule of law, civil society stands at the frontline to But with few means and little power, civic organ- oppose and resist. isations and movements try to mitigate the dire costs The health emergency has allowed most European of the crisis. Every day, all over Europe, they try to plug governments to gain exceptional powers, intro- the holes left by institutional policies (or lack of), espe- 5 duce blanket restrictions to fundamental rights and cially in the most vulnerable parts of our societies. At increase the power of law enforcement authorities. As the same time, they fight for those gaps to be filled, the analysis in this report shows, in most states, the through the advancement of rights, of social inclu- aggressive security narrative went hand in hand with sion, of equality. They galvanise people to participate, the use of coercive methods to enforce the COVID-19 to preserve and enlarge civic space, which is a pre- related restrictions and the closing of public space. condition for democratic, cohesive and resilient soci- In a context where a lot of regular and institution- eties. Civil society is more and more connected across alised channels for social and civil dialogue are broken borders to protect civic space and democratic values or weakened, and democratic checks and balances are from destructive pressures, from reactionary, racist, deteriorated, European streets have been crowded with and regressive forces. people in protests to manifest their griefs and dissatis- Despite this undeniable reality, we still have to faction, both with public policies and with those who spend too much of our time proving to institutions at decide them. But more and more, they are met with all levels that civic actors are not phantoms, that we disproportionate and often violent repression. exist, that we are a resource for our Europe. This trend towards more and more political control Of course, positive references to the role of civil of the social order through coercive measures and society can be found in the official EU documents. policing is very alarming. This year, five European coun- Dialogue channels have been opened, and we find tries have passed or have on the table (Greece, France, strong allies inside the European Parliament or the Poland, Denmark, United Kingdom) bills restricting United Nations. the right to protest beyond COVID-19. Following a Yet, across Europe, too many governments increas- trend highlighted in last year’s report, in 2020 Poland, ingly divide civil society into “good” and “bad” or distin- Bulgaria and Greece have proposed or introduced legis- guish between “political” and “a-political”. The European lation officially aimed at improving transparency, but institutions often neglect the role of organised civil the facto discriminately overburdening and stigma- society as providing democratic checks and balances, tising the sector. as mediator between the individual and the state. STORIES FROM THE LOCKDOWN – LEARNING FROM CIVIC SPACE WATCH Today, the European associations gathering citizens These are issues we have been talking about for and civic organisations together across borders, are years, our words often falling on deaf ears. These not legally recognised, unlike the European compa- issues feed not only our campaigns but our knowledge, nies or cooperatives. The EU law-making processes proposals, and alliances with the academic and scien- today still neglect the implementation of civil dialogue tific world, in the European and international spheres. as a good governance principle laid down in Article 11 Collective organizing is crucial to channel people’s of the EU Treaty. voices and allow them to be heard. Civil society organ- During the pandemic, we had to mobilise and unite isations represent a wide range of constituencies and forces again across borders to ask for the not-for-profit have extensive knowledge of communities’ realities, sector to be included in the crisis packages offered to thus their participation in the public debate and in economic operators. Different from enterprises, their the law-making is essential to ensure coherent and not-for-profit economic model relies mostly on dona- fair responses to the needs on the ground. tions, subsidies, and membership fees, not on revenues We believe that our knowledge and practices are from activities... In a little number of member-states, needed to make Europe resilient and ready to face the such criteria have been included in the public support future, putting solidarity at the heart of the recovery schemes put in place. agenda. And despite the Commission’s recommendation We are here, as always, and will remain so.

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