Roundtable event: CEE Under Pressure for Funding – Recommendations from the Region

The debate explored the changing political landscape in Central Europe and the need for CSOs to adapt to it to maximise their positive impact, which is key to shaping Europe’s democratic future.

On 4 November distinguished voices from across Europe — including a Member of the European Parliament, representatives of the Commission and leading think-tank experts — gathered at the invitation of H.E. Agnieszka Bartol and Wojciech Przybylski for a roundtable discussion. The debate centred on two pivotal documents contributing to the debate on Europe’s democratic future: Visegrad Insight’s new report “Democracies at War. War on Democracies” and Poland’s Non-paper: Contribution to the Upcoming European Democracy Shield.

Civil society stands at the frontline of societal resilience – countering disinformation, hybrid threats, and defending democratic security across Europe, but their work is not without challenges due to unsustainable funding, limited access to EU programs or political pressure and attacks on legitimacy.

Participants of the roundtable discussed how to better empower civil society, including:

• More predictable and simplified EU funding
• Establishing national endowments for democracy
• Stronger inclusion in policymaking
• Deeper cross-border cooperation and networking

This discussion is a part of the European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values (CERV) programmes, and involved a Visegrad Insight-led 3-year engagement across Central and Eastern Europe: https://visegradinsight.eu/eu-values-foresight/.

Photo: Łukasz Kobus