EU Funding of CSOs: From New Public to New Civic Management

Abstract

Once civil society organizations (CSOs) have decided to go European, they are confronted with the restrictions that come with funding opportunities. In this second sequence of the Europeanization process, emphasis is on the effects of the usage of European Union (EU) money. Since institutional impact is more relevant at this stage of the policy process, Europeanization can be understood as downloading and cross-loading; the motto is ‘no usages without impact’. The relevance of EU funding has been highlighted by academics and practitioners alike. As Rony Brauman, the Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) president from 1982 to 1994, states:

Over the last 10 years there has been a growth in funding that has provided humanitarian CSOs with resources that they could never have dreamed of before! (…) This money comes from international institutions, primarily the European Economic Community (EEC).¹