Polish Donors Forum
Forum Darczyńcow zrzesza fundacje i stowarzyszenia, które przyznają dotacje na różnorodne inicjatywy obywatelskie realizowane dla dobra publicznego.
ID: 893127498387-07
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU Civil Society Strategy
5 Sept 2025
Polish Donors Forum fully supports the Philea (Philanthropy Europe Association) position paper: towards an EU Civil Society Strategy. Reflecting on the current space for Civil Society in Europe, we are of the opinion that EU Strategy on Civil Society comes at a crucial moment. On the one hand, civil society (and within it also new forms of civic expression) demonstrates great resilience, creativity and innovation to address pressing societal issues. On the other hand, there are worrying pressures such as pubic funding cuts, restrictive laws and regulatory uncertainty; a growing climate of polarisation and also of disinformation, which risk undermining trust in civic actors and the legitimacy of their work. Against this backdrop, we believe some key needs emerge that should be covered by a comprehensive EU Strategy for Civil Society: First, the importance of an enabling operating environment and sustainable and predictable support that allows CSOs to plan and engage strategically, beyond project cycles. Here public funding as well as other funding and support sources from private and philanthropic actors are important. Philanthropy as partners and supporters of other CSOs need an enabling environment to support civil society also across-borders and to also collaborate and engage with public institutions and the EU. CSOs including philanthropy need stable legal and policy environments at both EU and national levels, EU policies and legislative proposals should not unduly restrict CSOs and impact assessments should be sone in this regard. In this context we call for: Developing a strategy that supports an overall enabling environment for philanthropy, including a Single Market for Philanthropy, non-discriminatory tax treatment to support cross-border giving, and facilitating partnerships between public institutions and philanthropic actors to co-invest in areas vital to democratic resilience. Ensure strong support in the new MFF for CSOs in the field of equality, rights and values, as well as in external action funds and any other areas relevant to citizens and simplify and harmonize administrative procedures across different programmes. Explicitly include advocacy as an eligible activity for all EU funding. Carry out a systematic civic space impact assessment across all legislative and regulatory proposals, to ensure that all EU policies support rather than restrict civic space. Second, robust monitoring and protection mechanisms (i.e. legal, financial, capacity building and well-being) that move beyond ad hoc responses and ensure CSOs under pressure have access to timely and adequate support within the EU, just as the EU provides for them externally (e.g. Human Rights defenders support). Third, civil society must be recocnised as essential democratic infrastructure and contributor to good policy making and therefore, there is need to create meaningful engagement structures for dialogue and transparent participation frameworks at national and EU levels. The urgency has grown as Europe (and the world) face overlapping crises (geopolitical, social, and economic) which will require more than ever, a strong, independent, and well-supported civil society sector to safeguard democratic values and build social cohesion. The upcoming Strategy should be a real opportunity to anchor these priorities firmly in EU policy.
Read full responseResponse to European Democracy Shield
26 May 2025
Polish Donors Forum endorses opinions of Philanthropy Europe Association PHILEA: Philea welcomes the proposal for a Democracy Shield as a potential important contribution to enhancing democratic participation, protection, resilience and recognition of civil society, including philanthropy organisations as key actors in this space. We expect the initiative to be consistent with the European Commission Annual Rule of Law report and fully compliant with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and we also understand that it will complement and be consistent with the European Democracy Action Plan of 2020 and the Defense of Democracy Package of 2023 as well as other relevant EU initiatives to promote democracy with a sine qua non condition around the protection of fundamental and human rights. Key comments on the suggested four pillars: 1. Countering disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference must be addressed with a toolbox that is in line with our core values such as democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. The call for evidence indicates disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference as one of the main targets. The foreign interference approach is clear also in the proposed Directive on interest representation on behalf of third countries. As we have underlined in earlier analyses of the Directive, the Directive is not only ineffective in tackling malign foreign interference and risks of being weaponised, both within and outside of the EU, as an excuse to crack down on foreign-funded civil society, but it misses the point that disinformation, information manipulation and interference attempts do not come only from outside of the EU, but can be also domestically sourced. Disinformation and information manipulation, furthermore, does not limit to domestic politics of Member States, but it can also reach the EU level and influence the discussion around EU legislation and policies. Similarly, the resilience of electoral processes rests on the consensus on the procedural fairness of the elections and in its results - disruption on such consensus can come both from foreign or domestic sources. We therefore propose an approach of countering disinformation, information manipulation and interference and disruption of electoral processes axed on transparency, support of independent institutions, fact-checking, and institutional and civic electoral resilience and recommend to withdraw the current proposed Directive on third-country interest representation but to invest in independent fact-checking platforms, supporting cross-country and regional synergies, and providing official partnerships for elections. 2. Ensuring the fairness and integrity of electoral processes and the strengthening of democratic frameworks and checks and balances, including free, plural and independent media and civil society organisations, Prioritising equality in all aspects and enhancing access to democratic participation are also crucial to defending democracy. In this sense, the Shield should supplement the European Democracy Action Plan and align with the European Pillar of Social Rights by introducing a pillar dedicated to promoting and defending accessible, inclusive elections to ensure active citizenship, equal democratic participation, as well as gender balance and inclusivity in politics and decision-making. For the need to ensure philanthropy and civil society freedoms. 3.Philanthropy is happy to contribute to efforts to strengthen societal resilience and preparedness, media literacy and critical thinking. For example, community foundations' can play a role in societal resilience and preparedness. 4.Philanthropy is engaging in different initiatives to foster citizens participation and engagement. We would also like to stress that in addition to citizens engagement, organised civil society has a key role to play to participate and engage in societal issues.
Read full response