ERC Consolidator Grant for Prof. Dr. Nicole Bolleyer

Professor Nicole Bolleyer was successful in the latest round of ERC grants, obtaining a Consolidator Grant. The award comes with funding of up to 2 million euros. ERC Consolidator Grants are aimed at researchers who want to consolidate their independence by establishing a research team and continuing to develope a successful career.

The so-called NGO law, which Victor Orbán's Fidesz party pushed through the Hungarian parliament in 2017, forces non-governmental organizations to disclose donations from abroad in court and to label themselves as an "organization receiving support from abroad" in all publications. For Nicole Bolleyer, this law is a particularly striking example of how the scope for action of civil society organizations is increasingly being curtailed in Europe. It also represents a broader, albeit not uniform, trend. Almost all EU member states have enacted legislation that restricts the development of civil society, whether intentionally or unintentionally. These regulations are primarily related to key challenges that democracies in Europe have faced with varying degrees of intensity over the last two decades: the fight against terrorism, the management of the financial crisis, the rise of populist parties to power and, more recently, the coronavirus crisis.

In her project "The Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Europe" (CIVILSPACE), Bolleyer will investigate this phenomenon, analyze its driving forces and its repercussions on society. The project aims to explain why and how EU member states have changed the legal framework in which civil society organizations such as trade unions, human rights organizations, religious communities and refugee initiatives operate over the past two decades. It will also examine how these framework conditions affect the social and political activities of civil society organizations. The project will thus continue topics from her recently completed work, which was funded by an ERC Starting Grant, among others.