EU FUNDED CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS

The European Commission has a two-fold incentive to support European Civil Society: input legitimacy in the policy making process, and the creation of a vibrant polity or social sphere for social cohesion and policy entrepreneurship. In fact, this desire might be even more acute in the Commission which has had to continually fight for legitimacy in the face of member state governments. The Commission hopes that NGOs can construct a transnational civil society, or European social sphere, and in so doing, enhance the legitimacy and saliency of the EU with the European public.

The European Commission’s funding decisions reflect its goals of supporting a supranational EU civil society through its support of groups organized at the EU level (over groups organized at the national and sub‐national level) and through its support of EU integration groups; European youth, education and intercultural exchange groups; and citizenship, democracy promotion and education groups.

The European Commission is spending millions of euros each year funding ‘civil society’ groups. Many of the groups which receive the Commission’s patronage would struggle to exist without statutory funding.

• Women in Europe for a Common Future received an EU grant of €1,219,213 in 2011, with a further €135,247 coming from national governments. This statutory funding made up 93% of its total income while private donations contributed €2,441 (0.2%) and member contributions just €825 (0.06%).
• Citizens for Europe, which describes itself as a ‘non-partisan, non-governmental and non-profit organisation’ whose ‘objective is to support the European Union project’, depends on the EU for 80% of its funding, with the rest coming from national governments.
• The ‘Green 10’ represents the largest of Europe’s environmental groups. All but one of their members receives substantial funding from the EU (proportion of income provided by the EU shown below):
• Birdlife Europe: €332,163 (35%)
• CEE Bankwatch Network: €836,238 (45%)
• Climate Action Network Europe: €295,022 (33%)
• European Environmental Bureau: €894,000 (41%)
• European Federation for Transport and Environment: €275,516 (16%)
• Health and Environment Alliance: €362,992 (59%)
• Friends of the Earth Europe: €1,195,259 (46%)
• Naturefriends: €365,735 (41%)
•  WWF European Policy Office: €599,954 (13%)
• Outside Europe, the EU has awarded grants to such groups as Friends of the Earth International (€814,243), WWF Pakistan (€1.6 million) and WWF Indonesia (€0.5 million). ‘The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements’ has been awarded €450,000 to promote organic farming in North Korea.
• 80% of the ‘civil society’ groups which are members of the alliance which supports the 2013 European Year of Citizens receive funding from the EU. The majority rely on the EU for more than half of their income. (European Civic Forum, European MOvement, Socialplatform, European Disability Forum, EUCIS-LLL, Culture Action Europe, European Youthforum, European Foundation Centre, EPHA, AEDH, Eurochild, European Women's Lobby, Coface, Concord, ESM, Age Platform Europe, AIM, Eurag, Solidar, EASPD, CEDAG, ENAR, VolontEurope, European Volunteer Centre, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Europe, CVA, ALDA, CEECN, CEBSD, CCON, Euclid Network, EUNET, CESES, JEF, Platform for Intercultural Europe, European Alternatives, ENNA, ATD Quart Monde, ISCA, ENGSO, AEGE, EAPN, Europa Nostro, MHE, Balkan Civil Society Development Network, Civil Scape, European Forum of Muslim Women, ECAS, Inclusion Europe, Scouts, Lyons, Autism Europe, Sport and Citizenship, ECICW-CECIF, SVI, SMES Europa, ERIO, AEBR, Obessu, IFSBH, Picum, Ilga Europe).
• The Union of European Federalists received €110,000 (63% of its income).
• The International Union of Socialist Youth receives €50,000 each year from the EU.
• As well as receiving extensive funding for the World Service, the BBC also received a specific grant for EU integration of €355,000.
• After the financial crisis hit in 2008, several European governments, many MEPs and much of the public wanted to see a reduction in member states’ contributions to the Union, but the Commission found widespread support amongst EU-funded ‘civil society’ groups for its own view that its budget should not be cut. The European Youth Forum (82% EU-funded) declared: ‘We call on Member States not to freeze or cut the EU budget’; The European Women’s Lobby (83% EU-funded) called for ‘an ambitious budget’; The European Movement (71% EU-funded) demanded ‘increased investment’;  The European Network of National Civil Society Associations (75% EU-funded) said ‘We believe in the value of better EU funding… We support the proposal to maintain EU funding levels’.
• Civil society groups in non-member countries are another funding priority for the Commission. In 2012/13, its Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility had a €45.3 million budget to be distributed to groups in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Many EU grants have been given to projects such as: ‘Combating Euroskepticism and Promoting Active European Citizenship’ (Hungary); ‘Unite Unite Europe!’ (Serbia) ; ‘Be Active, Be European!’ (Albania); ‘Citizen of my country, citizen of my Europe!!’ (Kosovo)