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The European Neighbourhood Policy promotion of civil society

Authors:
11/12/2017

When the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was designed in the early 2000s, there was little on the plate for the European Union’s (EU) engagement with civil society. There were separate budget lines to support local and international civil society organisations in their efforts to promote human rights and sustainable development in the neighbouring countries, but the ENP was mainly designed as an instrument for the EU’s relations with governments. However, the EU gradually started to put a greater focus on civil society under the ENP.