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Civil Society Europe Newsletter
March 2026
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Welcome to our March 2026 newsletter! In this edition, find out about the next steps of the Civil Society Strategy and Platform, the second meeting of the Interest Group on Civil Society in the EP, the launch event of our campaign "Voices of Millions", and more!
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What’s next for the Civil Society Strategy & Platform?
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Last year, the European Commission unveiled its Civil Society Strategy. As part of this, the Commission has committed to develop a “Civil Society Platform” – a space for the Commission to engage meaningfully with civil society actors in a structured way.
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We are honoured to announce our involvement in the steering group of this platform, together with the European Commission, the Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Economic and Social Committee. This group will set the internal working methods and overall direction that the platform will head in.
Read more here.
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Second meeting of the Interest Group on Civil Society in the European Parliament takes place
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The meeting brought together dedicated MEPs and diverse civil society representatives to discuss the state of funding for civil society in the new EU long-term budget. Other key policy areas for civil society were also addressed, including the EU Directive on European Cross-Border Associations (ECBA) and the upcoming EUDS Committee Report on the European Democracy Shield.
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We need strong funding programmes for culture, media and civil society in the next EU long-term budget
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Civil Society Europe has brought together a wide coalition of civil society organisations, along with stakeholders from the cultural and journalistic sectors, to develop a position paper on AgoraEU - the main funding programme for culture, media, and civil society in the next EU long-term budget.
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Read our contribution now here. |
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CSE at Civil Society Week 2026 at the EESC
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CSE was recently involved in several sessions of Civil Society Week 2026. On March 4th, CSE announced our involvement in the Civil Society Platform, to be established by the end of the year. We also participated in a session on how to build an enabling environment for democratic resilience, while on March 5th we contributed to a session on funding civic space.
Read more here.
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Civil Society Europe at the Lifelong Learning Lab
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On 5th March, Civil Society Europe spoke at the Lifelong Learning Lab training on the Multiannual Financial Framework and the European Parliament. CSE presented the structure of the MFF, the key files and actors, and the framework's timelines.
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Civil Society Europe is shaping discussions on the MFF
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This month, Civil Society Europe has been busy representing civil society interests for the next EU-long term budget: the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). For that purpose, we contributed to the General Assembly meeting of the Intergroup on the Future of Education and Skills for a Competitive Europe and the EESC Public Hearing on the Performance Framework regulation.
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Events you don't want to miss
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Save the date: ‘Voices of Millions’ Campaign launch event
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The “Voices of Millions” Campaign, coordinated by Civil Society Europe, aims to raise awareness about the representative power of civil society organisations. It will highlight the added value of civil society at EU level when it comes to policy making, agenda setting, and implementation and monitoring of policies, as well as responding to societal needs.
Save the date for its launch event!
- Date: May 5th, 2026
- Time: 11:45 - 14:00
- Venue: The Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
Please find the draft programme here and register here by April 27th, 2026 EOD.
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