The dynamics of European enlargement and the establishment of new forms of governance European wide are influenced by civil society in many ways. The evolution of European governance and European citizenship is closely related to the aspiration of shaping European civil society institutions – social movements, political parties, NGO’s, unions, voluntary organisations etc.

Civil society plays a major role in the democratic process, bringing citizens’ concerns to the attention of the elected representatives at local, national and increasingly at the European level. A weak publicly articulated civil society means less support for citizenship rights and consequently less comprehensive social protection and weakening of the social cohesion in Europe.

In the debate on civil society communitarian and neo-liberal scholars have argued that a large public welfare sector tends to crowd-out civil society activities such as voluntary work, familial support and informal care which are leading to a decline of social commitment of citizens and of civic participation. Most recent research on social capital and civil society rejects this assumption and finds that a positive correlation exists between the level of social welfare and the extension of civic involvement through voluntary work or informal care activities. The composition of the civil society and the type of civic activities differs between the European welfare systems depending on the public-private division in provision of welfare, but more equal societies tend to have a higher level of civic involvement and consequently better condition for social cohesion than more unequal societies.