ECNL launches Handbook on “How to Use EU Law to Protect Civic Space”
The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) has released a Handbook on “How to Use EU Law to Protect Civic Space”, produced in partnership with the European Foundation Centre (EFC) and the Donors and Foundations Networks in Europe (DAFNE). The handbook is designed to empower the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), which are instrumental in raising voices and assisting victims of human rights violations, by providing practical guidance for CSOs to advocate and litigate using EU law to protect their rights and civic space in the EU.
The user-friendly Handbook provides guides to CSOs on three main aspects:
- what EU law is and how it affects individuals and organisations;
- when and how CSOs can challenge national provisions or measures that impact their mission, activities and operations on the basis of EU law, including the CFR;
- which legal avenues and resources are available for CSOs to defend their civic space within the EU law framework.
“This handbook closes an important gap, by showcasing how EU law and the Charter can be used in practice to protect civic space. It has the potential to help human rights defenders enforce their rights and their space to operate”, explained the Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.