Civil Society Under Attack- Joint Statement

European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an unprecedented attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. The attack, spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by the farright groups, is fuelled by disinformation. The attack resorts to misleading arguments to artificially fabricate a scandal, and is carried and amplified by badly informed media articles. At a time when democratic values are being eroded across the EU and Member States, and civic actors acting for these values are increasingly under attack, this renewed offensive on funding for CSOs and on our legitimacy in the democratic process risks not only shrinking European civic spaces further but weakening democracy as a whole.