The EU's strategy for enlargement has increasingly put an emphasis on civil society dialogue and development in the EU candidates and potential candidates. Since 2005, the Commission has granted financial support to projects on civil society dialogue with and between Western Balkan countries as well as with Turkey.

More needs to be done: local NGOs require training to adapt to present conditions and also need to strengthen their capacities in order to be included in the EU accession process. Further efforts are required to deepen freedom of association, to put in place regulatory frameworks and public incentives for the development of civil society organisations.

The new facility will cover three areas of intervention:

• support for local civil society initiatives and capacity building, reinforcing the role of civil society in the candidate and potential candidate countries
• People-to-People Dialogue programmes aimed at familiarising journalists, young politicians, trade union leaders, teachers, etc. with EU policies and institutions
• support for building partnerships and developing networks between civil society organisations in the enlargement countries and the EU to promote transfer of knowledge and experience.

Source: Press Release IP/08/556

For further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/docs/civil-society-development/leaflet_taiex_version_90408_en.pdf