This paper examines the dependence-independence paradox faced by the Brussels-based NGOs when engaging and contesting EU policies and actions. By drawing on the empirical case of Roma NGOs and networks based in Brussels, this paper argues that the reluctance of Roma civil society stakeholders to criticise and challenge Commission instruments and measures aimed at the Roma is rooted in the NGOs’ dependence on EU funding and informal access to the policy process. Most of these NGOs depend on keeping a good relationship with the European Commission, either in order to ensure their funding or to lobby for changes that would benefit them. Most of these NGOs have only limited contact with grassroots NGOs, and therefore, they lack the knowledge of the specific circumstances and needs of Roma communities at national and local levels. In the light of these, the Brussels-based NGOs have no incentives in advancing critical narratives of the EU Roma policy and instruments as both the Commission and these civil society actors benefit far more from keeping the current status quo. In a nutshell, the ‘dependence culture’ that describes the relationship between the EU and Brussels-based NGOs undermines the autonomy and independence of these NGOs in criticising and reforming the EU’s approach to the Roma question in Europe.
