On 7 February 2019, Civil Society Europe together with De Verenigde Verenigingen, the Flemish Platform of civil society organisations held an expert meeting in Brussels gathering civil society organisations, and experts to discuss possible avenues for a legal framework for European Associations and foundations at EU level.

In Europe, Civil society organisations are experiencing multiple hurdles that prevent them from operating cross nationally. Furthermore, the civic space for civil society organisations is shrinking, which makes these hurdles more significant for two main raisons:

• • • The lack of a European Statute, which would allow associations and foundations to operate in other EU countries.
    • The lack of a legal framework/definition for associations NGOs or civil society organisations. Nonetheless, the EU acknowledges the existence of enterprises and cooperatives but non-profit organisations are left behind without any legal basis.

Participants agreed to join forces to:

• • • Gather research and comparative analyses on existing legislation in Member States.
    • Work and liaise with research bodies active on these issues
    • Map EU legislation, definitions and criteria  used by the EU Institutions to qualify not for profit associations (NGOs) and foundations