Civil Society Dialogue on the European Semester
The study had three key objectives:
- to make a final assessment of consultation mechanisms for the preparation of the NRRPs from the perspective of civil society as compared to the official presentation
- to highlight the involvement of civil society in the mechanisms for oversight of implementation and monitoring the Plans
- to provide recommendations on ways to improve engagement of civil society in the implementation and monitoring of the Plans.
The key target audience of the report are EU and national decision-makers and CSOs. This study is a follow-up of the study conducted on behalf of Civil Society Europe and the European Centre for Not-for-Profit Law in November-December 2020 on the involvement of CSOs in the preparation of the plans, accompanied by a guidance note for CSOs on how to engage with national authorities during the preparation of the plans.
The present study, firstly, analyses the text in the NRRPs from 11 Member States on the consultation processes put in place for their preparation, as well as the content of the plans concerning the involvement of CSOs in implementation and monitoring. Secondly, it summarises the perception of the CSOs which contributed to the study about civil society’s involvement in the preparatory stage and concerning the state of the art of their engagement in the implementation and monitoring phases. Finally, it concludes with some lessons learned from the consultation process and puts forward recommendations to the EU institutions, the Member States and civil society on how to improve CSOs engagement in the monitoring and implementation phases.
This study also points out where improvements can be seen in CSOs involvement in the period from January to April 2021, and where the situation did not change.