The regulation of civil society provides the framework under which those organisations can most effectively provide services in education, health, social services, housing, development aid and so on. Civil Society in Europe identifies common principles of civil society law in two ways. First, the approaches of the Council of Europe and the European Union are explored. Next, civil society regulation in twelve domestic legal systems are investigated on a broad range of substantive areas of law including internal organisation, registration, external supervision, public benefit organisations and international activities. From these, the authors distill a set of minimum norms and optimal conditions under which civil society can deliver its aims most effectively. This book is essential reading for policymakers and legislators across Europe and beyond.
Part I. European Law and Policy Pertaining to Civil Society: 1. Introduction Tymen J. van der Ploeg, Wino J. M. van Veen and Cornelia R. M. Versteegh; 2. Civil society in Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights Wino J. M. van Veen; 3. Civil society and civil society organisations in the institutional and legal framework of the European Union Cornelia R. M. Versteegh; Part II. National Laws Pertaining to Civil Society: A Comparative Overview and Evaluation: 4. Thematic survey of civil society law in twelve European countries Tymen J. van der Ploeg, Wino J. M. van Veen and Cornelia R. M. Versteegh; 5. Minimum and optimum norms for legislation on CSOs in Europe Tymen J. van der Ploeg, Wino J. M. van Veen and Cornelia R. M. Versteegh; Part III. Country Essays on Civil Society Law: Introduction; 6. The legal context for civil society organisations in Belgium Marleen Denef and Sarah Verschaeve; 7. Legal framework for civil society in the Czech Republic Katerina Ronovská and Vlastimil Vitoul; 8. Civil society organisations in England and Wales Mary Synge; 9. Legal aspects of civil society organisations and their relation with government: Germany Thomas von Hippel; 10. Legal aspects of civil society organisations and their relation with government: Greece Kalliroi Pantelidou and Dimitrios Vogiatzis; 11. Legal aspects of civil society organisations and their relation with government: Hungary Eszter Hartay; 12. Legal aspects of civil society organisations and their relation with government: Italy Christina Vaccario and Gian Paolo Barbetta; 13. Legal aspects of civil society organisations and their relation with government: The Netherlands Helen Overes; 14. Law regarding civil society organisations in Poland Anna Krajewska and Grzegorz Makowski; 15. Legislation on voluntary associations in Russia Irina Novichenko; 16. Spanish law on civil society: regulation of associations and foundations José Luis Piñar Mañas and Isabel Peñalosa Esteban; 17. The law in Sweden regarding civil society organisations Magdalena Giertz.
Tymen J. van der Ploeg was Professor of Law at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1992 until 2012. His research focuses on the relations of NGOs with governments, from a national and comparative perspective. Wino J. M. van Veen is Professor of Law at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam where he teaches law on partnerships, corporate law and law on non-profit organisations. His research areas include European law, corporate law, partnership law and comparative non-profit law, with a special interest in self-regulation. Cornelia R. M. Versteegh is a solicitor and part-time judge at the Civil Court of Amsterdam, and also teaches at Universiteit van Amsterdam. Her research focuses inter alia on European civil society law, European human rights law and terrorism.
