Policy Updates This Week – What’s New & Relevant for CLIs

EU Strategy for Civil Society (published November 2025)

The European Commission finally published a long-awaited strategy aimed at supporting, protecting, and empowering civil society – after years of civil society advocacy. Big political milestone for CLIs! It’s now part of the EU’s democracy agenda and may start shaping funding and engagement mechanisms in 2026.

It includes:

  • A commitment that civil society groups should be involved in EU policy-making from start to finish (not just consulted at the end)
  • Plans for a Civil Society Platform – a more structured dialogue space between EU institutions and organisations like ours/ yours
  • An online civic space hub to help track civic space conditions and tools / protections for organisations
  • A signal on sustainable, transparent funding via the EU’s long-term budget (e.g. AgoraEU)

For CLIs, this could mean having better spaces to influence EU policy relevant to community-led sustainability and social justice; potentially more stable funding tools and clearer access to EU programmes in the future; and recognition (on paper) that grassroots and volunteer-based initiatives matter.

However, some civil society voices caution that impact will depend on implementation, funding and proper dialogue structures from 2026-2027 onwards.

Read the strategy here!

EU Anti-Racism Strategy 2026-2030 (adopted January 2026)

The European Commission adopted a new Anti-Racism Strategy last week, that will run until 2030, which builds on the earlier Anti-Racism Action Plan (2020-2025) and pushes for a Europe where everyone can participate freely and equally.

It aims to:

  • Strengthen enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws
  • Close implementation gaps (including reviewing the Racial Equality Directive)
  • Tackle all forms of racism (anti-Black racism, anti-Roma, antisemitism, anti-Asian, anti-Muslim hatred
  • Boost equality and inclusion in education, employment, housing and healthcar
  • Launch EU-wide awareness campaigns and partnerships across society

Many of us are already mainstreaming inclusion, anti-discrimination in our work so this strategy reinforces that governments and funders should take those values seriously. It could also opens doors for CLI projects that explicitly fight racism and exclusion, potentially aligning with new funding calls under programmes such as CERV / AgoraEU, and provides a framework that potentially supports CLI work intersecting with social justice.

But do note, civil society organisations have again voiced concern that the strategy could be too cautious or lack strong enforcement mechanisms. We will monitor how it starts to be implemented in terms of laws, enforcement and funding details

Read the strategy here!

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