For the first time last week I got a request for a member to join Euclid Network despite it being against the law. Dr Shareef, a prominent civil society leader in Egypt wants to join but national law forbids him to join an international network (paying a fee for membership) in his country. As Nilda Bullain from European Center of Nonprofit Law confirmed he couldn’t join at all without the permission of the Social Solidarity. ICNL, the headquarters, runs an NGO Law Monitor on Egypt but the situation is more or less the same across the Middle East.

My first reaction was to start a campaign to give the opportunity for any civil society leader in Egypt to join Euclid… and pay the fee. There is of course a financial argument to be made. However, the situation inspired a broader reflection on the priorities of the European Union as an international agent of change.

Arab countries want more economic integration but not the social one at all. The chapter on civil society I found in the first draft of the Union for the Mediterranean – recently established multilateral institutions gathering EU member states and Arab countries  – disappeared in the final version.

Baroness Ashton is in charge of designing the new diplomatic service of the EU. What would you suggest her to do?  [...]

Finally, I’ve made it. I’m in the United States of America, the masters of the world. I feel like Alexis de Tocqueville in his adventurous journey to the new continent at the beginning of 19th century to discover the land of democracy. In my case, I’m here to discover the third sector – the 21st century form of democracy – and bridge it to Europe. The third sector will build a new trans-Atlantic cooperation!

Anyway, let’s stop here. I must confess that my adventure, like most, has started for a more simple and selfish reason: American friends got married and invited me to the wedding. Naturally, the ceremony was celebrated in a palace built by a Vanderbilt – you must know the family – in the green and productive country in Vermont. The parents of Molly, the bride, turned out to be founders of one of the first social enteprises in the country: Shelburne Farm. For the details read the the blog of my fellow Alberto. He’s into details and long descriptions!

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