Civil Liberties Union For Europe

The EU insitutions, EU legislators (MEPs, EU Commissioners, EU Council leadership & staff), and the wider audience ready to engage. 

Liberties is a young NGO, registered under German law in January 2017. We are supported mainly by Foundation donors whose mission and visions align with ours, including Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE), Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation and the Oak Foundation. We actively seek funding from a diverse range of sources to ensure our sustainability. Relying on many sources of income helps us to maintain our independence.

We believe that everyone in the EU should be able to enjoy and use their basic rights and freedoms. The EU has a lot of power and influence over what happens in EU countries. Because of this, we try to influence the EU to do three things.

First, when the EU makes laws and policies, we want the EU to leave our freedoms intact. Second, when governments or corporations threaten our rights, we want the EU to step in and protect us. Third, we want the EU to use its powers to make it easier for everyone to use their rights.

We collaborate with our network of members and use four different tools to influence the EU and national governments to uphold everyone’s rights.

First, we use advocacy. This means we use our expertise to explain to people working in the EU institutions and national governments why and how they should uphold human rights.

Second, we help our members litigate. That means we give our members expertise on EU law to use in court cases, and we help our members take cases simultaneously in different EU countries.

Third, we use public mobilisation. We talk directly to you, the public, about the problems we’re working on so you can spread the word and help us put pressure on the EU and national governments to solve them.