Monitoring: A tool for change
In several EU member states, as well as many neighbouring countries, governments have been clamping down on civic space. These attacks are often subtle, incremental or hidden from the public eye. As these changes mount up, the freedom and independence of civil society may be gravely threatened.
Monitoring changes to policies or laws is vital if we are to react swiftly and push back on closing civic space. Threats and concerns must also be recorded to serve as evidence. At the same time, early identification of legislative opportunities or shifts in public attitude allows CSOs to drive law reforms.
Building a monitoring framework tailored to the Eastern Partnership
Monitoring civil society space is a core activity at ECNL. Our CSO Meter, developed in consultation with over 800 CSOs, tracks the environment in which CSOs operate in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. It monitors key areas necessary for a vibrant civil society, both in law and in practice. These include fundamental rights like the freedom of association and assembly, participation in decision-making, and also emerging trends, such as the impact of technologies and Artificial Intelligence on CSOs. Based on a set of standards and indicators rooted in international human rights protections, the CSO Meter then assesses countries’ compliance under each area. This monitoring evidence empowers CSOs to advocate for progressive law reforms in their countries. Additionally, the CSO Meter also provides a hub for CSOs and activists, who are committed to an open civic space in the EaP region, to exchange strategies and learn from each other.
What has the CSO Meter achieved so far?
- In Armenia, the project contributed to more transparent procedures of state funding for CSOs and a progressive volunteering law, allowing organisations to harness the power of volunteer labour and providing protections for volunteers.
Impact in detail: How Armenia used the CSO Meter for more transparent procedures of state funding for CSOs
State funding is an important source of funding for CSOs in Armenia, but existing processes of how grants and subsidies are allocated from the state budget needed improvements in transparency and accountability. Research by the CSO Meter and the country report recommendations identified necessary priorities for reform, and based on this our Armenian partner Transparency International Anti-corruption Center (TIAC) prepared draft amendments to the existing regulation. The government adopted these amendments in January 2021. In particular, the new rules further regulate the activities of the grant selection committee, tackle conflict of interest issues, and ultimately ensure transparency of the overall selection process.
- In Georgia, the project supported advocacy against the restrictive Foreign Agents Law and Assembly Law.
- In Ukraine, it supported the civil society development strategy to strengthen the civic sector and promote partnership between CSOs and authorities. ECNL and partners also contributed to challenging an unfavourable draft law on lobbying, which would limit the right to participation.
- In Moldova, it contributed to a law clarifying the legal status of philanthropy and sponsorship, allowing philanthropy to become a significant source of funding for civil society. ECNL also supported partners in advocating to revoke the ban on peaceful assembly in relation to COVID-19 limitations.
- In 2024, the European Union (EU) officially launched accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, opening up a crucial opportunity for civil society development. EU institutions have drawn on ECNL’s expertise in this area, using evidence from our CSO Meter reports to inform key documents such as the EU enlargement package and country-level progress reporting.
- The CSO Meter approach has provided a valuable model for other regions. In 2021 the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) recommended that the CSO Meter could be adapted to track civic space challenges within the European Union.
Expanding the monitoring framework to the European Union
Following up on the successes of the CSO Meter, and based on FRA's recommendation, in 2024 we launched a pilot monitoring project to capture the state of play of civic space within the EU. The Monitoring Action for Civic Space (MACS) tool will create a comprehensive civic space monitoring system, a first of its kind in Europe. It will support the European Commission’s work towards an enabling environment by providing a methodology, which can be adapted to each Member State, as well as an early warning system to alert EU institutions on threats to civic space. The MACS tool will help us understand how various trends uphold or threaten EU values and standards, and allow us to compare these across countries and from year to year.
Dig deeper!
- Visit the CSO Meter website for more details.
- Get a quick overview of all the key data in the project factsheet.
- Find out more about what the CSO Meter will focus on in the next 3 years.
- See the video stories from partners explaining the positive changes they were able to reach with the help of CSO Meter in their countries:
- Find out what the CSO Meter project achieved in the first phase of the project between 2017-2020:
- Learn more about the Monitoring Action for Civic Space (MACS) project launched in 2024 to monitor civic space within the EU.
The CSO Meter project is funded by the European Union.
