Associating at the European Level: Civil Society Networks in Brussels

Abstract

This chapter examines the position of the third sector at the European level, where it has slowly been building a presence. Although great advances have been made, especially from the 1990s onwards, and the sector’s European networks are much stronger than before, it remains institutionally weak and has difficulties linking back to the national level and below. Vertical linkages between the European and national levels are often weak, which means that socially and politically they often constitute different worlds.