Actualizare privind spațiul civic: sprijinirea societății civile în promovarea valorilor UE și consolidarea democrației (FRA, 2026)
Civic Space Update: Enabling Civil Society to Uphold EU Values and Strengthen Democracy (FRA, 2026)

Summary/Abstract: The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report, Civic Space: Enabling Civil Society to Uphold EU Values and Strengthen Democracy, provides a comprehensive analysis of the state of civic space in the 27 EU Member States and the three candidate countries —Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia — with a baseline of the situation recorded by the end of 2024. It highlights the progressive degradation of civic space in Europe and demonstrates that restrictions affecting civil society organizations, activists, journalists and human rights defenders pose an increasingly serious threat to democratic resilience and pluralism. The report analyses contemporary challenges affecting European civic space, such as restrictions on freedom of expression, limitations on public participation, misinformation and pressures on civil society organisations. At the same time, the document highlights the importance of developing public policies and institutional mechanisms capable of protecting civic space and promoting democratic participation. Overall, the report provides a basis for the implementation of the new EU Strategy for Civil Society, formulating a clear normative direction: European democracy needs a protected, funded, consulted and respected civic space, and human rights cannot be effectively defended without a civil society able to act freely. Thus, protecting civic space is not only a human rights obligation, but also a fundamental condition for maintaining democratic legitimacy and the rule of law in the European Union.

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