Civil Liberties Union For Europe

The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that advocates for the protection of civil liberties for all people in the European Union. With our headquarters in Berlin and a presence in Brussels, we work closely with a network of various national NGOs from across the European Union. Our member organizations are represented in countries such as Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands, as well as with associated partners in France, Germany, Slovakia, and Sweden.

Our mission is to ensure that people in the EU and its member states live in societies where their civil liberties are protected. We strive for the EU and national governments to respect the rule of law and for people to be able to participate freely in the democratic process. To this end, we pursue three central goals:

• The EU should respect civil liberties when enacting and implementing laws and policies.
• The EU should intervene to protect people in Europe when national governments fail to meet their international obligations.
• The public should be made aware of civil liberties so that people recognize their importance and understand that it is worth defending them[1].

Liberties is engaged in various areas to achieve our goals:

• Advocacy and campaigns: We produce materials such as articles, videos, and reports to inform and raise awareness about civil liberties.
• Legal and public education: We create legal opinions and policy papers to assist politicians and officials in creating and implementing laws and policies.
• Network support: We advise our member NGOs on EU law, help them connect with EU decision-makers, and support them in creating and coordinating campaigns at the national level[1].

Liberties has launched several significant initiatives to strengthen civil liberties in the EU:

• Protection of journalists and activists: We have drafted new EU rules to protect journalists and activists from strategic lawsuits against public participation.
• Funding for democracy initiatives: We have created the largest fund for democracy initiatives in the EU.
• Training of human rights defenders: Over 400 human rights defenders have been trained by us to support campaigns that matter to people.
• Measures against autocracy: We have created new powers to withdraw EU funding from autocrats[2].

Liberties has been registered under German law since 2017 and is funded by the support of organizations such as the Open Society Initiative for Europe, the Ford Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the Digital Freedom Fund, and the European AI Fund. We are constantly seeking new sources of funding, particularly from the general public, to ensure our independence and growth[1].

• 1 - https://www.liberties.eu/de/about/organisation
• 2 - https://www.liberties.eu/de
• 3 - https://www.liberties.eu/de/about/terms-of-use
• 4 - https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/index_de.htm
• 5 - https://www.liberties.eu/de/about/about-us