The European Union has a supranational governance structure, which means it is able to make decisions without the unanimous agreement of national governments. To address the criticism concerning its democratic deficit, the different EU institutions have included NGOs in the policy making process. With their expertise and representative member base, NGOs can provide valuable input and help legitimize the decision-making process within the EU. NGOs have played an important role in developing European policy. Since the early 1990's, they have built coalitions with national and regional governments, industry, other interest groups and members of the European parliament as well as the European Commission. Lobbying generally favors big NGOs with enough resources to provide robust facts and scientifically based evidence in their advocacy work. The EU consults with NGOs in different ways, for instance through green papers (discussion papers), white papers (official proposals), communications, advisory committees and ad hoc consultations. The EU commission has allocated more than 1 billion Euros annually in support of NGO projects and there are over 15,000 lobbyists and 2, 600 special interest groups in Brussels.
Despite the European Union's growing awareness of NGOs, the regional body does not have the same open dialogue with NGOs as the UN does. Consequently, NGOs have strengthened their cooperation in the hope of having stronger relations with the Union. This paper shows the historical development of the EU's increasing engagement with NGOs, and it emphasizes the important knowledge NGOs can provide in its decision-making bodies. (European University Institute)
Campaigners and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urge the European Commission to "curb the excessive influence" of murky and influential corporate lobbying in Brussels. The NGO coalition calls for advocacy legislation based on transparency and accountability, under which lobby groups, corporations and public relations firms would have to report openly about their agenda and financing. (IPS Terraviva)
The European Commission considers adopting standards for outside consultation, which would include input from organized civil society. Religious communities and NGOs have proposed specific frameworks for dialogue with the Commission, but "the Commission believes these proposals go beyond general principles and minimum applicable standards on consultation." (
European Union Online)
This paper discusses the evolving definition of civil society, ways for NGOs to participate democratically in policy-making, and the importance of NGO transparency and accountability. It also looks at NGOs' attempts to create a system of formal representation within the European Union and their varying degrees of success. (The Platform of European Social NGOs)
The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) fears that the European Commission may become overwhelmed by the number of NGOs requesting involvement in discussions at the highest level. Civil society would be damaged if the Commission were to withdraw from some activities or only liase with a few, large NGOs, due to a simple lack of staff.
The European Commission and CLONG (the umbrella group of development NGOs) signed a compromise to settle their four-month dispute over the outcome of an audit process. (Europe Information Service)
An audit report of the Liaison Committee of European NGOs to the EU finds no evidence of fraud. However, the policy of EU development officials is "zero tolerance" for alleged financial discrepancies, thus is forcing the Committee to disband (InterPress Service).
This paper highlights and describes the relationship between the European Commission and NGOs, while maintaining that some improvements should be made to render it even stronger. (European Commission)
MS-Danish Association for International Co-operation's brief notes on meeting held on January 27th 1999. Provides insight into the European Commission's relationship with civil society.
