Civil Liberties Union for Europe

Here's what Liberties was busy with in August: 👩⚖️ Litigation brief on the EU Charter of #FundamentalRights, 🎙️ Interview: with our Swedish member on the #RuleofLaw, 💡 Explainer: Understanding the mechanicm of #autocracy, 👁️ #ElectionsMonitoring: Tactics candidates and parties in #Poland use to bypass campaign laws.

🤓 Meet Our Members: Using Creativity To Make A Positive Impact On Society Meet John Stauffer, Legal Director and Acting Executive Director of Liberties' Swedish member Civil Rights Defenders, who pursued a civil society career to explore more innovative ways to positively impact society. Read the full interview here ➡️ link.liberties.eu/b564e4

🚨 United Against Spyware Abuse in the EU and Beyond 🚨 Spyware isn’t just a privacy issue — it’s a threat to the very foundations of our democratic values. By undermining independent decision-making, restricting public debate, and silencing journalists and activists, spyware erodes the pillars of a healthy civic space. As new European Union institutions prepare to take office following the EU elections, the growing threat of spyware has become a pressing global concern that demands immediate attention. Today, CDT Europe, alongside 30 civil society and journalists' organisations, publishes a joint statement urging the incoming EU institutions to prioritise action against the misuse of spyware in the new legislative term. Some of our coalition’s key recommendations include: 🔹 A ban on the production, sale, and use of spyware that disproportionately harms fundamental rights. 🔹 Stronger export controls to prevent the misuse of these technologies beyond the EU. 🔹 Transparency and accountability in government contracts involving spyware. As Silvia Lorenzo Perez, Director of CDT Europe’s Security, Surveillance & Human Rights Programme, puts it: "The incoming EU institutions have the opportunity to correct the failures of the last legislature by taking concrete and decisive action against the abuse of spyware surveillance." The new EU institutions must seize this moment to restore public trust, protect our fundamental rights, and uphold the values that define the Union. #StopSpyware #Surveillance #Pegasus #CivilSociety

💬 In Conversation with Political Accountability Foundation | Election Monitoring Talks Liberties chatted with Fundacja Odpowiedzialna Polityka, our Polish partner in our election monitoring project. In this interview, PAF explains the tactics candidates and parties in Poland use to bypass campaign laws and escape accountability. Read it here ➡️ link.liberties.eu/befcbf

🏖️ While everyone is at the beach, Liberties has been working away in the background Our recap newsletter covers what we got up to in July 📑 Our first reactions to the EU's Rule of Law Report 😡 Understanding the nuances of hate speech 📰 Op-Ed on why media freedom needs more than the #EMFA Sign up now so you don't miss out ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dVnygd4T

The European Commission fails to unlock the Rule of Law Report’s full potential: Statement 1️⃣ Commission vs. CSOs: Contrasting views. There is a stark contrast between the Commission’s report and Liberties’ rule of law report regarding the overall evaluation and the evaluation of certain countries. For example, in the Commission's report, the assessment of France's rule of law record appears more positive than in the French CSOs' report, which shows little to no progress in all areas except for media freedom. Similarly, the Commission's view of Greece's progress contrasts with Greek CSOs' evaluation, which indicates little to no progress and regression in all areas of the rule of law. 2️⃣ Recommendations don’t add up. According to the EC press release “two thirds (68%) of the recommendations issued in 2023 have been, fully or partially, addressed”, however this seems to be an overly positive spin on the numbers and doesn’t differentiate between recommendations addressing technical  versus systemic violations. According to our calculations, out of 137 recommendations from 2023 only 8 have been fully implemented, 18 saw significant progress while in the case of 41 recommendations (roughly 30%) no progress was made. Furthermore, there are glaring gaps between country evaluations and recommendations. Recommendations were omitted for significant rule of law issues, for example Slovakia’s deteriorating space for civil society, while some countries have conspicuously few recommendations. 3️⃣ The EC is wearing rose-tinted glasses. The EC’s  interpretation of the CIVICUS data is too ‘rosy’. According to the 2024 data, 12 EU member states are classified as ‘open’, 12 as ‘narrowed’ and three as ‘obstructed’. The rule of law report concludes: “In the majority of Member States, an enabling and supportive framework for civil society exists, and the civil society space continues to be considered as ‘open’”. (p33)
 4️⃣ Link between the rule of law report and other tools remains unclear. Despite a somewhat more detailed and better structured presentation of the use of other rule of law mechanisms, there is still no clear structure linking the rest of the rule of law toolbox to breaches identified in the report.  Instead, the Commission continues to overemphasize the usefulness of dialogue as in intermediate tool to address rule of law decline. This is ‘magical thinking’ in the face of politicians who deliberately disregard rule of law safeguards and delay the use of more binding tools. While this might work for cooperative Member States, it suggests the Commission is in denial of the reality that not all governments are acting in good faith. ⏰ Stay tuned for our detailed gap analysis in September. Read last year's #RuleofLaw gap analysis here ➡ link.liberties.eu/1a2234

Amidst skyrocketing industry lobbying and the far-right surge in Europe, civil society's agenda is key 🚨 On 1 October in Brussels, 30+ digital, social and climate justice organisations will open a dialogue with recently elected EU decision-makers at the #EUTechSociety Summit. Together, we will discuss tech's impact on democracy✊🏾, society 🌎 and the environment.🌱 ➡️ Check out the draft programme published today to learn what will drive the conversation: https://lnkd.in/g7eauDbc 💙 SOMO, EAPN - European Anti Poverty Network, European Environmental Bureau, Friends of the Earth Europe, Oxfam Intermón, Equinox: Racial Justice Initiative, Weaving Liberation, ILGA-Europe, Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), Front Line Defenders, Civil Liberties Union for Europe, Amnesty International, Access Now, European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting, Privacy International, Bits of Freedom, Centre for Democracy & Technology Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory Wikimedia Europe BEUC - The European Consumer Organisation Danes je nov dan Corporate Europe Observatory, ARTICLE 19, Homo Digitalis, Open Future Foundation, Open Markets Institute, Right to Repair Europe, SHARE Fondacija, COMMUNIA, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), AI Now Institute, LobbyControl Aspiration

😎 Check out Liberties June Recap Liberties' June recap newsletter will drop in a couple of days, covering: 🗳️ EU election reflection 👋 Meet Our Members: HRMI and Antigone 🤓 Summer School for LGBT campaigns in 🇭🇺 🏆 CERV Re-grantees winners announced Sign up now so you don't miss out ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dVnygd4T

Even where the European Media Freedom Act makes great strides to improve media freedom and pluralism, there are caveats that must be considered, Jonathan Day (Civil Liberties Union for Europe) argues in our latest op-ed. Read it now: https://lnkd.in/d2bAJZcb #mediafreedom #pressfreedom

The European Commission is set to release its 5th Rule of Law Report in the coming weeks. As the EU political scene heats up and many escape the summer heat for cooler waters, don't fret—we'll dive into this important report so you don’t have to. Last year, we identified several gaps in the Commission's report. ❌ The Commission often avoids analysing how some governments intentionally undermine rule of law standards to push their agendas, avoid democratic scrutiny, or maintain power. ❌ Another issue is the lack of intersectional analysis—how different sections of the report connect. For instance, procedural gaps in the justice system mainly affect migration and prisoner cases in countries like #Ireland, #Belgium, and #Italy. ❌ We also think the rule of law monitoring cycle could be seriously improved with increased engagement from civil society organisations. This includes setting up structured national dialogues and providing more specific country recommendations. ❌ We find it concerning that the Commission’s report doesn’t fully address how ongoing human rights violations affect the rule of law. As shown in Liberties’ own rule of law report, many member states are still falling short on human rights standards. A clear example is the widespread violation of migrant rights, as reported by our member organizations in #Estonia, #Germany, #Ireland, and other countries. You can read our detailed analysis from last year’s report here: https://lnkd.in/erPzTMyh Our comprehensive analysis is based on a 600+ page report covering 18 EU countries, prepared by Civil Liberties Union for Europe and 45 organizations across Europe. More about the report: https://lnkd.in/df8RWdYM Stay tuned (even if you're at the beach) for our 2024 rule of law gap analysis. We promise to keep it short and sweet so you can keep working on your tan! 🏖 😎