Banning Pride isn’t enough for the President of Hungary, Victor Orbán: he wants to be able to shut down all associations who criticize the government.
The good news is that the European Union has the power to stop him — by approving the Statute of “European Associations,” which would be directly recognized by the EU itself. Will it go for it? That is what we, as Eumans, a pan-European movement for citizens’ initiatives, are asking for by participating in the Budapest Pride on June 28. On the morning of that day, we will hold a civic assembly to discuss European-level measures to counter the ongoing rule-of-law violations carried out by Orbán’s government. The recent ban on the Pride march is just the latest in a long line of grave breaches of fundamental freedoms. However, while the Pride ban has been widely covered in the media, another equally authoritarian measure has received much less attention. This concerns a bill presented in early June by the Hungarian government that aims to abolish the freedom of association for NGOs within the national territory. This draft law would not only curtail the freedom of expression of NGOs but also their ability to receive foreign funding — often vital for their survival. Using the pretext of labeling them as “threats to Hungarian sovereignty and culture,” it would become even easier to sanction or dissolve the associations most critical of the government, further stifling what little remains of dissenting voices. In response to this emergency — and pending the Hungarian Parliament’s decision expected by the end of summer — the Eumans assembly plans to put forward a concrete proposal: the adoption of a legal status for “European Associations.” With the introduction of such a status, NGOs could be legally recognized directly by the EU, bypassing national recognition and protection from repressive laws like the one Orbán is proposing. Naturally, the recognition of the legal status of “European Association” would have far-reaching effects beyond Hungary, introducing an innovative legal tool for the freedom of association for all NGOs across EU member states. It’s worth noting that while a legal framework already exists for for-profit entities — such as the “European Company” under EU law, which enjoys its own legal structure as a single economic operator within the Union — no equivalent exists for nonprofit European organizations, which are forced to operate under national legal identities. Once again, Europe reveals one of its structural weaknesses: the lack of adequate protection for matters outside the scope of economic interests. 

The civic assembly of Eumans, which aims to discuss and vote on proposals to submit to European institutions, wants to launch a campaign for the approval of the Statute of “European Associations,” unlocking a proposal that has been circulating in Brussels for years.

Indeed, in February 2022, the European Parliament exercised its right of indirect legislative initiative to propose a resolution led by Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky. The resolution called for a new EU-level regulation to  facilitate the cross-border activities of nonprofit organizations, by establishing a new form of legal entity within the EU: the European Association. In response to Parliament’s initiative, the European Commission in September 2023 proposed a directive on European Cross-Border Associations (ECBA). This directive would require all member states to create a new legal form — the ECBA — open to EU citizens, residents, and nonprofit organizations established in the EU. The ECBA would be nonprofit in nature, with any surpluses dedicated solely to achieving its objectives, and without any profit distribution among its members. ECBAs would be automatically recognized across all EU member states and would benefit from simplified procedures for transferring their legal seat from one EU country to another. An ECBA would need to be active in at least two member states and have founding members from at least two member states (based on citizenship or residency in the case of individuals, or on the registered office in the case of legal entities). Had it been approved, the Directive would have been a breakthrough in enabling third-sector organizations to operate fully at the European level. Unfortunately, the proposal stalled in Parliament. Although the JURI Committee gave it a favorable vote in March 2024, the previous European Commission never submitted it to the plenary vote.

Now, with a newly composed European Parliament where nationalist forces hold significantly more sway than before, gathering enough support for approval is even more difficult. That’s why the proposal must now be driven by European citizens themselves. Only public pressure can initiate a shift capable of influencing the balance of power in Parliament. The Civic Assembly in Budapest on June 28 is an opportunity to reignite the campaign for the creation of the legal status of the European Association: an ambitious path, which some may deem unrealistic, but which is essential to defending freedom of association across Europe.

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