The European Union is to make €1.5 billion available to activists and civil society groups that promote democracy and human rights, as Brussels seeks to increase its backing for rule of law initiatives. 

The seven-year funding pool forms part of the citizens, equality, rights and values programme for the 2021–2027 period that falls under the EU’s budget for that timeframe. 

It was approved by MEPs voting on Tuesday, one week after the EU Council issued its position on the proposal. The decision will now become effective once it is published in the Journal of the European Union in the coming days.  

While the EU has long funded civil society programmes that advocate human rights and democracy education in countries outside its borders, it has not traditionally reserved direct funding for NGOs within member states specifically to promote EU values. 

The new funding strand is made up of a €641.7 million allocation that will be bolstered by added funding of up to €912 million, following significant lobbying by MEPs who insisted on making more financial aid available to NGOs. 

Those figures will be complemented by an additional €305 million funding facility to strengthen judicial cooperation, promote a common judicial culture that upholds the rule of law, and make recourse to justice more accessible. 

Collectively, these funds offer a lifeline to civil society organisations working in member states that are unwilling or unable to finance NGOs working on human rights issues. 

Less reliant on benefactors, fundraisers

Funds could be used to help such NGOs build up internal capacity and become less reliant on private benefactors or fundraising events, develop new tools and expand their programme reach. 

Civil society stakeholders also hope the funding will help encourage more activists to pilot rule of law initiatives in countries where such activities are likely to attract negative attention from authorities. 

EU lawmakers have grown increasingly concerned in recent years at rule of law violations in errant member states, but have until now struggled to find ways of transforming those concerns into concrete action. 

“Authoritarians in EU have cemented their grip on power: taken over courts and media, strangled rights groups, clamped down on protest. Traditionally strong democracies also suffered,” Liberties.EU head of advocacy Israel Butler wrote on Twitter.

Butler continued: “In future, EU can give citizens groups resources to inform & mobilise the public to protect their freedoms. New fund supports rights & democracy groups in EU countries to campaign, litigate and advocate, just like EU already does in other parts of the world.” 

Liberties.EU was one of the civil society groups that spearheaded calls for the EU to directly fund NGOs that promote human rights and civic education and had lobbied for €2 billion in funding over the seven-year period to 2027.