Slovenia: Civil society finds its place in European neighbourhood

A conference on 'Giving a stronger voice to civil society in the European neighbourhood' took place on Apr. 2 in Brdo in Slovenia, under the auspices of the Slovenian presidency of the European Union, which has included the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the empowerment of civil society among its priorities.

The Slovenian rotating presidency has made calls for greater civil society involvement in the promotion of democracy, human rights and stability in the region, with a view on aiding EU integration of Eastern European and Western Balkan countries.

Civil society sends clear message
The event, which gathered participants from 29 countries of the EU and European neighbourhood, was organised by the Centre for Information Service, Co-operation and Development of NGOs (CNVOS) and the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) from Brussels in cooperation with the Government Communication Office and the Representation of the European Commission in Slovenia

At the conference, over 150 participants from NGOs, national governments and EU institutions discussed the position of the civil society in the Western Balkan countries, Eastern European ENP partner countries, Turkey and the Russian Federation.

Hoping to send a clear political message to the EU and national governments, civic actors from south-east and eastern Europe jointly approved a statement ? the Ljubljana Declaration – calling on the EU to help create an enabling environment in its neighbourhood, and formalise regular consultations between Brussels, national governments and civil society.

The aim of participants was to empower civic actors in the EU's eastern neighbourhood, a controversial step for governments in countries such as Serbia, Belarus or Russia who see activists as often concealing politically subversive objectives.

Civil society?s ?key? role
"Civil society has a key role in enlargement, and is the reason for our increased emphasis on civil society dialogue," Jan Truszczynski, Deputy Director General of the Enlargement Directorate-General at the European Commission told participants at the opening session.

"Civil society is growing and becoming better organised, EU institutions should pay more attention and improve their partnerships with them," Anita Pipan from the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at the same session. Truszczynski on the other hand, admitted that "NGOs are very often relegated to the role of the poor cousin", and called for "a long-term conscious political effort by politicians, civic actors and opinion leaders."

Civil society warns against early victory
But local civil society called on the EU to engage more directly with both civic actors and national governments. "The EU should support the sustainability of civic partners, not only financing but influencing the decision-making processes," Goran Djurovic, Executive Director of the Montenegrin Centre for Development of NGOs told the conference. "Otherwise it will be difficult to establish values on which the EU is based."

The entire effort could fail if the actors involved fail to see the key is in strengthening smaller NGOs, which Tony Venables, Director of the Belgium-based European Citizen Action Service claims represent 90 percent of civil society. "In the process of democratic reform and economic change what is often difficult is to maintain the social capital at the local level and keep a sense of community and of people having control on their own lives at the local level," he said.

Admitting the problem was particularly pungent in Eastern Europe, Venables said that without smaller NGOs "you don't really have a civil society, just larger NGOs in the capital cities and national branches of international NGOs. "The real density and richness of civil society is at the local level, in the thousands of associations citizens form for their own interests for a wider common purpose," he added.