Programs > By Location > Europe
Programs By Location: Europe
Current Project Highlights
Bosnia and Herzegovina: ICNL’s is promoting an enabling legal infrastructure for NGOs. Most recently, ICNL is working to local efforts to draft a Law on Volunteers that will encourage volunteerism in BiH. In addition, ICNL is providing technical assistance to our local partner in efforts to persuade the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Srpska to amend the Law on Donations so that it primarily applies to public entities. The project also focuses on developing the capacity of both government and NGO sector representatives in understanding NGO legal issues. To advance these objectives, ICNL is working closely with government offices and NGO resource centers alike on legal and fiscal issues pertinent to NGOs and to engage them in capacity-building activities.
Bulgaria: As part of the Judicial Strengthening Initiative, ICNL and BCNL are working to support the judicial reform process in Bulgaria. In December, ICNL sponsored an advocacy training for local Bulgarian NGOs that have received grants to advocate for judicial reform. The training helped build the advocacy skills of more than 20 local NGOs.
Central and Eastern Europe Regional: ICNL has been working in the Central and Eastern European region since 1994 on the development of legislative frameworks that establish favorable legal rights and procedures for the development of civil society. This work has been supported by three cooperative grant agreements with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) beginning in 1994. These agreements have positioned ICNL as the primary U.S. means for providing expert legal advice, training, awareness raising; as well as active participation in the legislative process for the development of both legislative frameworks and the underlying capacity of the Civil Society Sector to continue to monitor and advance their legislative and policy interests with governments and legislative bodies.
Recent initiatives under these agreements include:
- providing ongoing support to ECNL to further develop its institutional capacity to carry out its mission independently, while remaining in close affiliation;
- facilitating the exchange of cross-border expertise;
supporting educational initiatives including NGO law courses at sixteen universities in eight Central and Eastern European countries; - routinely posting new legal developments and other tools on its website and updating its database of materials;
working to support CEE/NIS linkages; - conducting research on cutting-edge issues of NGO law, which will provide the foundation for future law reform efforts; and
- integrating NGO law specialists into in-country, regional, and international networks to help validate and strengthen the commitment of network members, while strengthening their skills by supplying them with comparative information and expertise.
Macedonia: ICNL provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice to finalize draft amendments to the Law on Citizens’ Associations and Foundations. These amendments are the culmination of several years’ work and will help establish the framework for the longer-term sustainability of NGOs in Macedonia.
Serbia: Significant progress has been made during to further comprehensive law reform affecting NGOs in Serbia. Highlights of these recent activities involving the critical work of ICNL include:
- The Serbian Ministry for Administration and Local Self-Government convened a meeting and roundtable on the draft Law on Associations. ICNL provided critical technical support to the Ministry and to the NGO working group in making final recommendations on the draft Law. The Ministry is now in the process of finalizing the draft Law, which will be fundamental to Serbia’s legal framework for civil society.
- Recognizing the importance of law to enabling volunteerism in Serbia, the Secretariat of Vojvodina for Labor, Employment and Gender Equality commissioned a working group to prepare a draft Law on Volunteerism. Through participation in the working group, ICNL has provided comparative materials and technical assistance in preparing the draft Law.
- Perhaps most significantly, amendments to the Serbian Value Added Tax (VAT) Law came into force. The amendments improve the tax treatment of humanitarian goods imported by foreign donors. The amendments result directly from a conference on VAT hosted by ICNL and from recommendations provided by ICNL and local partners.
In addition, ICNL focused its energies on building the capacity of key stakeholders to address core reform issues. ICNL provided support by providing written educational materials on issues, such as the freedom of association and volunteerism.
Completed Project Highlights
Croatia: ICNL continued to provide substantial support to key legislative initiatives. First, ICNL served as primary technical adviser to a working group of Croatian lawyers commissioned to prepare a new draft Law on Foundations. Second, following a series of roundtable discussions, ICNL met with the Ministry of Family, Veteran Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity and offered additional materials and expertise to the Ministry as it works to finalize the draft. Third, ICNL planned the publication of an analysis on public benefit regulation to raise awareness of the need for a comprehensive legal framework for public benefit organizations.
Kosovo: After seven years of involvement, in May 2005, ICNL completed its work with the Kosovo NGO Advocacy Project, led by the East West Management Institute. Our project contributed to creating an enabling environment for public participation and NGO advocacy, as well as to the ability of NGOs in Kosovo to advocate for legal reforms affecting NGOs and their constituencies. Project accomplishments include:
- Piloting of a successful initiative to encourage adoption of rules promoting public participation in the municipality of Gjakovë through a locally led NGO advocacy campaign;
- Adoption of rules governing public participation as a result of NGO-led campaigns in three additional cities;
Enactment of a Freedom of Association Law called for by the Kosovo Standards Implementation Plan;
Adoption of a Freedom of Information Law and rules promoting public participation in the deliberations of the Kosovo Assembly; - Improved capacity among a core group of NGO leaders at both the Kosovo-wide and municipal levels to advocate for legal reforms;
- Improved capacity on the part of IKDO and its executive director, Gjylieta Mushkolaj, to provide technical legal expertise on issues of public participation, NGO advocacy, local government, NGO law, and other issues affecting the ability of NGOs to form, operate, and pursue their interests and those of their constituents;
- Improved capacity on the part of the hundreds of NGOs who benefited from ICNL/IKDO trainings, workshops, conferences, and written materials on subjects such as the rules governing public participation; laws on NGO formation and operation, NGO taxation, the structure of government in Kosovo, access to official documents, and others; and
- A subsectoral code of conduct reflecting best practices in governance.
Turkey: For years, Turkish associations operated under severe legal restrictions. Among other issues, the Government was entitled to attend an association’s annual meetings, thus chilling advocacy activities. Associations were required to obtain government approval to partner with foreign organizations and to receive foreign funding. University students were restricted in their ability to found associations.
ICNL worked with the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TÜSEV) to develop a participatory process informed by international perspectives to draft a new Law on Associations. Under the new law:
- Associations are no longer required to obtain prior authorization for foreign partnerships.
- Specific provisions and restrictions for student associations have been entirely removed.
- Associations are no longer required to inform local government officials of the day/time/location of general assembly meetings and no longer required to invite a government official/commissary to general assembly meetings.
- Government funding for NGO projects is now possible.
- Security forces are no longer allowed on premises of associations without a court order.
- NGOs are now allowed to buy and sell immovable assets.
Human rights organizations have reported that these changes have had a significant impact on associational life in Turkey. After the passage of the new Law on Associations, ICNL worked with TÜSEV to develop a system to monitor the implementation and impact of the new law.