Country Visits: Newsroom
Public support to NGOs in Slovenia: Presidents of CINGO and its Expert Council concerned about recent developments
In a letter sent today to the Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the Council of Europe, the presidents of the Conference of INGOs and of its Expert Council on NGO Law express concerns about recent developments regarding state funding for NGOs, more particularly the decision to redirect the...
Presidents of CINGO and its Expert Council reiterate concerns about Greece’s NGO registration and Ministerial Decision No. 82876 of 8 May 2026
In a letter sent today to the Permanent Representative of Greece to the Council of Europe, the presidents of the Conference of INGOs and of its Expert Council on NGO Law address Greece’s Ministerial Decision (MD) No. 82876 on the Establishment of the “Register of Greek and Foreign...
Conference of INGOs conducts official visit to Montenegro on 22-25 June 2026
A delegation of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (CINGO) of the Council of Europe, led by its President Gerhard Ermischer, will visit Montenegro on 22-25 June 2026. Discussions will focus on the environment in which civil society and its organisations currently...
CINGO’s Expert Council invites Bulgaria to revise its Law on Interest Representation
The Expert Council on NGO Law – a body of the Conference of INGOs – is publishing its Opinion on the Compatibility of the Bulgarian Law on Interest Representation with European Standards. The Opinion concludes that regulating lobbying is not inherently problematic. However, insofar as such...
Conference of INGOs
Civil participation in Serbia and Greece: CINGO publishes two country reports calling for improvements
On the occasion of its Spring 2026 session, the Conference of INGOs has released two reports on civil participation that followed the country visits in Serbia (8-11 September 2025) and in Greece (11-15 novembre 2025). As regards Serbia, the report points in its conclusions to “a concerning...
CINGO President and Expert Council react to dissolution of Young LGBTI+ Association in Türkiye
In a letter dated 17 December to the Permanent Representative of Türkiye to the Council of Europe, the President of the Conference of INGOs and the President of its Expert Council on NGO Law react to the recent court ruling that dissolved the Young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex...
Implementation of Georgia’s Foreign Agents Registration Act will cause “grave and unjustified damage to civil society”, says CINGO’s Expert Council on NGO Law
The Expert Council on NGO Law, an expert body of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, has just published an opinion on the Foreign Agents Registration Act adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on 1 April 2025. It finds that several of the provisions are not sufficiently prescribed by...
Statement of the Conference of INGOs on the suspension of the right to asylum in Greece
The Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe expresses deep concern on the adoption by the Hellenic Parliament of Article 79 of Law 5218/2025, suspending for three months the possibility to lodge asylum applications for persons arriving from North Africa and foreseeing their immediate...
CINGO visit to Serbia on 9-11 September 2025 to discuss democratic participation opportunities and civic space with the authorities and civil society
A delegation of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) of the Council of Europe, led by its President Gerhard Ermischer, will visit Serbia from 9 to 11 September 2025. Discussions will focus on the current state of the environment in which civil society and its...
Hungary’s Bill on the Transparency of Public Life: a significant threat for the legitimate functioning of civil society organisations, says CINGO’s Expert Council on NGO Law
The Expert Council on NGO Law, a body of the Conference of International non-Governmental Organisations (CINGO), has just published an opinion on the Bill on the Transparency of Public Life which was submitted to the National Assembly of Hungary on 13 May 2025. The opinion finds that "several of...
Expert Council on NGO Law Publishes Addendum to its Opinion on the Slovak Republic’s NGO framework regulation Introducing the concept of “organisations supported from abroad”
This addendum builds on the Expert Council’s Opinion (“the Opinion”) on draft amendments to various laws relating to different forms of non-governmental organisations (“NGOs”) and which passed their first reading in Parliament on 30 April 2024. They were adopted by the National Council...
Draft Hungarian bill on Transparency of Public Life: civil society organisations share concerns in open letter to the European Commission
More than 300 national and international civil society organisations, comprising organisations represented on the Conference of INGOs (CINGO), have co-signed an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Michael McGrath, EU-Commissioner for Democracy, Justice,...
Expert Council on NGO Law: periodic review 2020-2024 of international legal developments and opinion on Slovak Republic’s law on “Foreign Supported Organisations”
The Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe has published its fifth review of developments in standards, mechanisms and case law affecting NGOs throughout the Council of Europe and beyond in the period running from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024. The...
CINGO Committee on Migration Issues is visiting Poland as part of its study on the accommodation of refugees and migrants
From 10 to 14 February 2025, a delegation from the "Committee on Migration Issues" is visiting Poland as part of its study on the accommodation of refugees and migrants. More broadly, effective access to human rights and related services would also be a concern of the delegation. To this end,...
Visit of the Conference of INGOs to Skopje – 4-6 November 2024
A delegation of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe went to Skopje (North Macedonia) from 4 to 6 November. The visit focused on civil society participation in the decision-making process in different sectors of public policies and public affairs, and the current state of the civic...
New Georgian legislation on transparency of Foreign Influence does not conform to European and international standards, says Expert Council on NGO law
The Expert Council on NGO law, a body of the Conference of International non-governmental organisations of the Council of Europe, released today an opinion on Georgia’s law on transparency of foreign Influence which was adopted on 14 May at the conclusion of its third reading. In the 25 pages...
Expert Council on NGO Law
Opinion on the Compatibility of Amendments to the Croatia Law on Associations and the Law on Foundations with European Standards
The Expert Council on NGO Law has prepared an Opinion on the Compatibility of Amendments to the Croatia Law on Associations and the Law on Foundations with European Standards; those were enacted by Parliament in December 2022. As detailed in the Opinion, the Amendments underscore the ongoing...
Expert Council on NGO Law
Opinion on the compatibility with European standards of Italian Decree Law No. 1 of 2 January 2023 on the management of migratory flows
The Expert Council on NGO Law has issued a new Opinion on Italian Decree Law No. 1, of 2 January 2023, which relates to search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. The Opinion considers the compatibility of the Decree Law with European standards on civil society space. It recommends t he...
Concerns about the adoption by the Government of the draft amendments to the ‘Draft law amending the Act – Law on School Education and certain other acts’
Open letter from the President of the Conference of INGOs to the Government of Poland
The Conference of INGOs is concerned to learn that even after the public consultation organised by the governmental body since 21 July 2021, the majority of stakeholder organisations maintain the same criticism regarding the first draft of the amendments to the ‘Draft law amending the Act – Law...
CoE Committee of Ministers published the Communication from the Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs (10/08/2021) in the case of BEKIR-OUSTA AND OTHERS v. Greece (Application No. 35151/05)
The Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs is very concerned that the case of BEKIR-OUSTA AND OTHERS v. Greece (Application No. 35151/05) is not resolved yet. The Expert Council on NGO-Law once again has issued a strong statement to uphold the findings of the European Court of Human...
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