Ongoing Projects
MACS: Monitoring action for civic space
Monitoring Action for Civic Space (MACS) captures the state of civic space in EU member states. Collectively, nine European organisations have created a monitoring tool to draw the attention of EU institutions, states and civil society to civic space issues that matter.
Why is MACS needed?
MACS envisions a civic space, or in other words, an enabling legal and policy environment for individuals and civil society groups to exercise fundamental freedoms, that is:
1. Organised: Individuals and organisations can come together to establish both formal and informal non-profit organisations.
2. Resourced: Individuals and organisations have access to and can effectively utilise a variety of resources.
3. Mobilised: Individuals and groups can freely assemble, campaign, and express their opinions.
4. Engaged: Individuals and groups can access and actively participate in the policy-making processes that impact their lives.
However, across the EU civil society organisations, their members and human rights defenders are coming under increasing pressure. To help CSOs and the EU to effectively respond to these threats, MACS is running a pilot monitoring in 7 selected countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.
What is the added value?
MACS was created to fill the current monitoring and response gap at the EU level and create a comprehensive tool that will provide evidence and guidance to the EU, states, and civil society on:
- emerging civic space trends within the EU;
- early signs of how the space for civil society is improving or deteriorating;
- good practices and civil society strategies;
- how proposed or adopted national laws may breach EU law, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
- how EU laws impact civic space.
How does MACS work?
MACS monitors the following six key dimensions, which are based on specific civic space standards that capture the state’s commitment under international and European human rights law:
- Freedom of Association
- Access to Funding
- Freedom to Peaceful Assembly
- Freedom of Expression
- Participation in Decision-Making
- Safe Space for civic actors
Each dimension will include a separate analysis to highlight restrictions that target marginalised, excluded, and historically discriminated groups, which will inform the scoring process.
Outcomes
MACS will publish:
- regional trends analysis to highlight issues within the EU sphere of competence, and
- detailed country reports that go deep and analyse both the progress and decline of civic freedoms across the 6 dimensions in the countries,
- an Early Warning and Alert System on the Civic Space Watch website to identify restrictions at an early stage and trigger timely action by EU institutions, international organisations, media and human rights actors.
Key information
Project duration: April 2024 – April 2026
Led by: European Center for Not-For-Profit Law
Partner organisations: European Civic Forum, The Bulgarian Center for Not-For-Profit Law, The Civil Society Development Foundation, Okotars – Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, OFOP Poland, The Netherlands Helsinki Committee, Le Mouvement Associatif and Nyt Europa
Total project funding: €651,821.96
Funded by the Citizens, Equalities, Rights, and Values programme of the European Union.
PARATA: Protecting At-Risk Activists from Threats and Attacks
PARATA aims to strengthen the resilience of civil society organisations (CSOs) and human rights defenders (HRDs) in Europe against restrictions on fundamental freedoms. The project fosters mutual learning and develops protection and communication strategies, with a focus on protest movements facing disproportionate repression, such as environmental justice groups. Through a consortium of eight partners across Europe, PARATA will build a Europe-wide database of protection resources on the Civic Space Watch platform, deliver targeted training and advocate for an enabling environment for civil society and activists.
Key information
Project duration: September 2025 – March 2027
Led by: NOVACT
Partner organisations: European Civic Forum, Climate Action Network Europe, Media Diversity Institute, ARCI, Academia Cidadã, Green Legal Impact and Szubjektiv Ertekek Alapitvany
Total project funding: €701,927.11
Funded by the Citizens, Equalities, Rights, and Values programme of the European Union.
Past projects
NET4DEFENDERS: Protect and enhance civic space in Europe to preserve fundamental rights and EU values and those who defend them
NET4DEFENDERS was a CERV-funded project strengthened coordination and solidarity among key actors defending civic space across Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, and Poland, in partnership with the European Civic Forum. Through capacity building, peer-learning, civic space monitoring, advocacy, as well as protection and resilience-building, the project empowered CSOs and HRDs to uphold fundamental rights at local, national, and European levels. The project activated national and local protection hubs to monitor and report on civic space, to support those under attack, and foster dialogue with policymakers through advocacy forums.
Key information
Project duration: March 2024 – November 2025
Led by: NOVACT
Partner organisations: European Civic Forum, PIC – Legal Center for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, ARCI, Fundacja Uniwersyteckich Poradni Prawnych, and Ligue francaise pour la defense des droits de l’homme et du citoyen
Total project funding: €603,140.00
Funded by the Citizens, Equalities, Rights, and Values programme of the European Union.