09/12/2025
BREAKING: Civic freedoms in France, Germany, and Italy are now “Obstructed”, according to a global watchdog.
CIVICUS Monitor has just published its annual People Power Under Attack report, and its contents are sobering.
Six European countries saw their civic space rating downgraded. In France, Germany, and Italy civic freedoms are “Obstructed” — the third on a five-point scale ranging from “Open” to “Closed.
These changes are the culmination of years of repeated attacks against civil society, democracy, and fundamental freedoms.
In addition, three countries outside the EU, Serbia, Georgia and Switzerland, were also downgraded. The downgrades send a strong warning: civic space across Europe is in rapid decline.
In France, the downgrade reflects escalating police violence, surveillance practices, arrests of protesters, targeting of journalists, and persistent restrictions on fundamental rights.
In Italy, the downgrade comes after years of systemic backsliding characterised by expanding police powers, the stigmatisation of activists, and weakening protections for journalists and human rights defenders.
Germany’s downgrade reflects and intensifying attempts to depoliticise civil society’s oversight and watchdog role, restrict protests, carry out arbitrary arrets, as well as intimidation and the use of excessive force against protesters. This has been particularly the case with environmental and climate justice groups and Palestine solidarity activists.
Serbia’s downgrade comes amid mass protests and nationwide strikes, which have been met with a new level of crackdown. Instead of addressing public concerns, the authorities responded with unprecedented repression, including arbitrary arrests, smear and disinformation campaigns in pro-government media, and police raids targeting activists, journalists, and students.
Across all these countries, there is structural and accelerating pattern of restricting civic space and fundamental rights on the pretext of public order and security narratives.
These trends threaten the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights across the EU and its neighbourhood.
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