INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EUROPEAN UNION LAW

Abstract

The institutionalization of civil society in European Union law is a mechanism created as a result of various political, historical and cultural events. Civic society is the result of a specific historical process, but nevertheless it is constantly subjected to various changes, therefore it can be said that it is constantly being created “before our eyes”. Europe of citizens, understood as a postulate to identify the citizens of the European Union with European structures, is manifested, inter alia, in the institutions of European civil society shaped by these structures. These institutions include, for example, citizenship of the European Union and the rights constituting its constituent element, such as the right to petition the European Parliament, the right to lodge a complaint to the European Ombudsman, and the European Citizens’ Initiative. Therefore, these institutions of EU law are undoubtedly a legislative attempt to implement the idea of a European civil society. The citizens of the European Union are more and more willing to use from the institutions concerned, which to some extent proves their effectiveness. However, a hindrance the ubiquitous EU bureaucracy and far-reaching formalism, which results in, inter alia, declare many complaints, petitions and initiatives inadmissible. The assessment of the institutionalization of the European civil society, based on the analysis of the intensity of use and usefulness of the above-mentioned institutions by the citizens of the European Union, is therefore rather positive, although the European Union still has a long way to go to a state that could be considered satisfactory.