Sweden UK Estonia Slovakia Russia 2019 Report on the State of Civil Society in the EU and Russia The EU-Russia Civil Society Forum e.V. (CSF) is an independent network of thematically It is easy to generalise about civil society but much diverse NGOs, established as a bottom-up civic initiative. Its goal is to strengthen coopera- harder to provide an accurate assessment based on tion between civil society organisations and contribute to the integration of Russia and the evidence. How many organisations are there in this field? EU, based on the common values of pluralistic democracy, rule of law, human rights and Which societal issues are they dealing with? Has pres- social justice. Launched in 2011, CSF now has 180 members and supporters - 83 from the sure from the state been increasing or decreasing? The EU and 97 from Russia. authors of this report have considered these, and other difficult questions and offer a clear outline of some of The Forum serves as a platform for members to articulate common positions, provide sup- the challenges facing civil society organisations and also port and solidarity and exert influence on governmental and inter-governmental relations. their responses. These goals are pursued by bringing together CSF members and supporters for joint proj- ects, research and advocacy; by conducting public discussions and dialogues with deci- Alexander Arkhangelsky, writer, professor at the National Research sion-makers, and by facilitating people-to-people exchanges. University Higher School of Economics, Moscow This EU-Russia CSF report on civil society is highly appreciated. Vibrant CSOs and a well-developed civic culture are the basis of an innovative and inclusive society. With democracy2019 in crisis, it is important to develop a range of strategies to push back against restrictions. Also, solidarity with Russian CSOs makes us stronger and offersReport hope that nobody will be left behind, even those facing difficult circumstances. We are in need of systematic,on transparent the funding oppor- tunities to help defend democratic values and capacity building in civil society.State Mall Hellam, executive director,of Open Estonia Foundation, Tallinn Civil Society in the EU and EU-Russia Civil Society Forum e.V. / Secretariat Badstr. 44, 13357 Berlin, Germany Russia Tel + 49 30 46 06 45 40 [email protected] www.eu-russia-csf.org CONTENTS Preface...................................................5 Innovative thinking and new forms of activism in challenging times: Civil society in Russia and four EU countries – Sweden, the UK, Estonia, and Slovakia Comparative overview.........................................8 Introduction. 9 Context. 9 The state of civil society in Russia and four EU countries . 10 Legal and regulatory regimes. , . 13 Challenges. 14 Civil society responding to the challenges . 19 Conclusions. 20 Bibliography . 22 Sweden: Minor challenges and even smaller solutions...................26 Civil society overview. 27 Legal framework and political conditions. 30 Challenges: Trouble in paradise?. 32 Solutions: Modest innovations in a stable system. 36 Conclusions............................................38 References. 40 The UK: Civil society in times of political change.......................44 Civil society overview . 45 Legal framework and political conditions. 47 Challenges: Between financial pressure, Brexit and legal change. 51 Solutions: Cooperating, diversifying funding and new technologies. 56 Conclusions. 57 Acknowledgements. 58 References. 58 Estonia: Search for a fresh vision, adjusted identity and upgraded operations. 64 Civil society overview. 65 Legal framework and political conditions. 69 Disclaimer: This document has been produced with the Challenges: New realities to cope with and to benefit from. 71 financial assistance of our donors. The contents of this Solutions: Self-reliance, innovation and the art of cooperation . 75 publication are the sole responsibility of the EU-Russia Conclusions. 78 Civil Society Forum e.V. and can in no way be taken to References. 80 reflect the views of our donors. The opinions expressed by the authors are their own and do not necessarily Slovakia: The search for funding and improved public image. 84 represent the views of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum. Civil society overview. 85 Legal framework and political conditions. 88 ©2020 by EU-Russia Civil Society Forum e.V. Challenges: Funding, organisational capacities and image. 90 All rights reserved. Solutions: Diversify, educate, build the image. 94 Conclusions. 96 ISBN 978-3-947214-05-1 References. 98 5 PREFACE Russia: New, vigorous forms of activism despite state restrictions. 102 Civil society overview. 103 Legal framework and political conditions. 106 Challenges: Communication and partnership in a diversified sector. 107 Solutions: Solidarity, awareness and connectedness. 113 Conclusions. 116 By Kristina Smolijaninovaitė References. 118 Information about contributors..................................122 From 2016 onwards, the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum (CSF) has issued an annual Report Annex 1: In-depth interviews questionnaire. 126 on the State of Civil Society in the EU and Russia. Each year we study four EU countries Annex 2: Focus group questions.................................130 and Russia, outline the main trends and challenges for civil society organisations (CSOs) Impressum...............................................136 there, solutions to those challenges and legal and political conditions. For 2019, we have chosen Sweden, which has a long history of social democracy and joined the EU in 1995, the UK, an “old” member state, which is going through Brexit at the time of writing, and Estonia and Slovakia, two “new” member states which were in the former Soviet sphere of influence and joined the EU in 2004. For their research, all country authors used available official data, interviewed representatives from between 12 to 16 CSOs and, apart from the UK, conducted a focus group to verify the findings and conclusions. As in previous years, the Russia report shows a division in civil society between state-ap- proved socially oriented non-profit organisations (SONPOs) supported by the federal gov- ernment funds, and CSOs that challenge government actions and protect public interests. The rise of non-institutional initiatives, not mentioned in previous Annual Reports, has pro- vided new challenges for state and formal CSOs. The most vivid cases are connected with ecological protests such as anti-rubbish protests near the settlement of Shiyes, in northern Russia, and mass protests against the refusal to register independent candidates for elec- tions to the Moscow City Duma. Where there are strong institutional links between CSOs and government and continuing consensus on how these should operate, as we report is the case in Estonia, CSOs continue to thrive despite challenges. A trend of CSOs losing members in large numbers and at a somewhat high rate is a fea- ture of the report on Sweden. Not only have numbers fallen, but members’ involvement is changing from active to more passive forms, and from lasting to temporary activities. Some interviewees suggested that the younger generation is less interested in wider social and political problems and more concerned about single issues. CSOs face a complex legal and political environment in the UK. There is no single national policy and both law and policy vary considerably between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Charity law is complicated and there are increasingly onerous and dif- ficult to navigate regulatory requirements. For those CSOs receiving government funding, years of reducing budgets and onerous performance targets have added a further layer of pressure. Uncertainty about the Brexit deal during 2019 reflects increasing political polar- isation, although apart from Northern Ireland, CSOs have largely remained silent on the Brexit question. In many countries in this study, the political climate in which CSOs operate has deterio- rated or there have been challenges from right-wing populists. For instance, in Slovakia, the murders of an investigative journalist and his fiancée in February 2018 incited mass protests around the country organised by CSOs and activists mostly under an informal ini- tiative known as, “For a decent Slovakia”. These events in Slovakia have led to lower trust of 6 CSOs in leading political actors, increased tensions and hate speech, and there has been a rise in populism and disinformation. However, in 2019 the newly elected first female presi- dent of Slovakia, who was previously an environmental activist and lawyer, offered hope of a positive change for CSOs and civil society in Slovakia. The fifth issue of the Annual Report will be published at the beginning of 2021 and will fea- ture Austria, France, Latvia and Slovenia. 9 Innovative thinking and new forms of activism By Nicholas Acheson in challenging times: Introduction This is the fourth report of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum. It presents an update of the Civil society in Russia state of civil society in Russia and reports from four other EU countries. One of these (the United Kingdom) was in the process of leaving the EU at the time of writing, while of the and four EU countries – other three, one (Estonia) was formerly a republic within the Soviet Union and one (Slovakia) within the Soviet Union sphere of influence as part of the then Czechoslovakia, becoming a separate country in 1993. Finally, we report on Sweden, a stable Nordic