Analysis
EU Values Foresight
Security
Building Civic Resilience: Challenges and Solutions in Central Europe
12 December 2024
The COVID-19 crisis presented new kinds of challenges for local governments both in terms of crisis management tasks and the quickly changing legal, political and financial framework in which they operate.
New research conducted by Hungarian, Polish, Romanian and Czech civil society organisations highlights how the more lasting effects of the pandemic have manifested through changing legislation, local governments’ access to funding, transparency and accessibility of local decision-making – all of which point to a shrinking space for manoeuvrability, deliberation and civic engagement.
Editor’s Pick: What’s In Store for the Ukrainian Spring
The past three years have been characterised by cumulative crises. In the wake of the pandemic, European economies first took a hit in 2020, and then in 2021, inflation returned in force and continued to present a challenge through 2022 and into 2023. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, EU countries provided refuge for millions of Ukrainians while also attempting to decouple the Russian energy supply and tackle increased energy prices going into the heating season of 2022/23.