Law Initiative

The MCSS Program’s partner in promoting the strengthening of a supportive legal environment for Moldovan NGOs is the European Center for Non-for-Profit Law. The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) is a regional public benefit organization, based in Hungary, which promotes the strengthening of a supportive policy and legal environment for civil society in Europe and beyond. ECNL shares alternative regulatory models, lessons learnt, and experiences across borders; and provides comparative information to assist local partners in adapting or creating new solutions appropriate to their environments. It provides leading expertise to initiatives regarding regulation of civil society, including association and foundation law, public financing, philanthropy, counter-terrorism, public participation, volunteering and partnerships between the state and civil society among others.

In its initial Assessment on the Legal Framework for Civil Society in Moldova, ECNL aimed to set out areas for strategic considerations by all stakeholders to better advocate for a more enabling environment for civil society in Moldova.

Under MCSSP, ECNL identified and committed to work in the six priority areas:

• Improving Legal Framework for Public Associations;
• Improving Legal Framework for Public Benefit Organizations;
• Assisting with Developing and Implementing Legal Framework for Volunteering;
• Improving Fiscal Framework for NGOs;
• Assessing Potential Enactment of the Percentage Law;
• Assisting with Developing Legal Framework for Government Contracting of Services.

Among the specific activities planned under the MCSSP, ECNL will provide ongoing technical assistance and comparative legal expertise to local partners on CSO matters in the identified priority areas and beyond on the needs basis; will hold trainings and other capacity-building events for NGOs and government representatives on CSO related legal issues; on the needs basis will assist with establishing and will support the policy making processes by Public-Private-Working Groups in order to develop and promote NGO law initiatives; will provide targeted training on policy and legal reform affecting NGOs to a select group of stakeholders from both NGOs and Government; and will share comparative materials and good practices from European countries and beyond.

Comments and analysis of (draft) laws:

ECNL Comments on draft Law on Volunteering
Analysis of Percentage Philanthropy (legal nature, rationale, impacts)
European Practices of regulating the public benefit status
A comparative overview Public Benefit Status in Europe