Civil society organisations under the impact of the European Commission’s Consultation Regime

1. Civil society and civil society organisations: From myth to partner in governance Civil society ranks high in political discourse. It has become the epitome for political emancipation, and the strengthening of civil society is habitually considered as a means of securing political and social self-determination. The concept of civil society is loaded with positive normative connotations even though there is little agreement concerning the question what constitutes civil society. The role and functions attributed to civil society vary over time and across countries and often it is more a myth than a reality (Jobert/Kohler-Koch 2008). Despite all these dissimilarities, the discourse on civil society usually flares up in times of (perceived) legitimacy crisis and this is also how it came on stage in the European Union. The incantation of civil society was a response to the (alleged) democratic deficit of the Union and it was embedded in reflections on how to make EU governance both more democratically legitimate and efficient (Greenwood 2007; Michel 2008). The dual interest in civil society and civil society organisations In the EU context civil society has two images. Firstly, it is the emergent political community of the Union, an imaginary “European people ” which constitutes the polity an