The European Council for non-profit organisations was created in Brussels in 1989 by a number of associations, civil society and umbrella organisations from various EU Member States.
It was established as a network to provide the voice for the non-profit sector at the European level on specific issues which are common to all non-profit organisations and associations. For many years CEDAG has closely followed policy developments in the area of social policy.
CEDAG’s members are national and regional umbrella bodies, involved in social fields of activities such as education, citizenship, culture, social and health issues, environmental issues, consumer protection and sport.
CEDAG is neither linked to any political party or trade union, nor to any religion, nor to any public or private institution. It is basically pluralist, open to the world and very attached to democratic governance.
– Voice the concerns of Civil Society Organisations, as key actors of civil dialogue and participatory democracy.
– Develop capacities and expertise in member organisations.
– Build bridges between the EU and the national, regional and local levels through CEDAG membership.
– Promote a strong network by recruiting more member organisations.
– To clearly underline possible convergences with other European networks working with comparable objectives, underlining CEDAG specificities.
– CEDAG campaigns for the implementation of clauses on participatory democracy and of the Charter of fundamental rights and promotes the recognition of services of general interest and for the acknowledgement of different models of enterprise that the organizations of social economy represent.
– CEDAG promotes the definition of a European legal framework better adapted to all services of general interest and social services of general interest.
– CEDAG lobbies for the adoption of a European operational Statute for non-profit organizations that will facilitate trans-national co-operation between associations.
– CEDAG contributes to the enlargement process by developing links with associations from candidate countries to the European Union, and by encouraging the exchange of information and good practices.
-A network of umbrella organizations, deeply involved with participatory democracy, independence, and values of general interest services.
-The non-profit organizations and associations are seen as companies with a democratic management and a non-profit approach.
