Gong
Budget
€10 — €0
EP Access
0
accredited persons
Staff
4
0.7 FTE
EU Grants
€250,000
Mission & Goals
Gong is an interdisciplinary research laboratory, social watchdog and a think-do tank focused on enhancing democratic processes and institutions as well as developing democratic political culture. Over the last 25 years of public engagement Gong has changed from a grassroots organization into one of Croatia’s most influential and vocal policy advocacy organization grounded in strong and focused policy research and close collaboration with investigative journalists, policy experts and engaged in a number of legislative and policy monitoring initiatives geared towards greater transparency and fairness of the electoral process, management of conflict of interest of public officials, improved access to information, more inclusive policy-making, greater political accountability, increased civic participation and resilient civil society. Gong's core portfolio includes democratization, anti-corruption, fair elections, civic education, civil society, digital democracy and responsible media.
EU Legislative Interests
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee, European Parliament, European Commission, European Ombudsman, Council of the European Union, European Parliament's Committee on Petitions (PETI) Public policies: good governance (openness, transparency, integrity, accountability, participation, anti-corruption, conflict of interest, freedom of information, open data, EU enlargement), active citizenship (civic education, media literacy, media policy, EU literacy, active civil society, responsible and free media, engaging citizens in democracy, educations for first time voters development), digital rights, fight against disinformation, fair elections - Defence of Democracy package - Democracy Shield - Guidelines for Providers of Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines on the Mitigation of Systemic Risks for Electoral Processes - AI Act - Anti-corruption strategy - The Digital Fairness Act - Evaluation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office Regulation - Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising - The Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA) - Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission - Communication from the Commission - COM(2018) 236 final - Tackling online disinformation: a European Approach and Code of practice on disinformation - Democracy Action Plan - Code of Practice on Disinformation - European Media Freedom Act - Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU, Strand 4 - 2025 Rule of law report - Digital Omnibus - Education Package - Citizens omnibus - MFF 2028–2034
Communication Activities
Publications and analysis: 1. The state of democracy in Europe roundtable: Evidence-based public discussion with political candidates https://gong.hr/en/2024/05/15/eu-elections-panel-center-rig 2. Lowering the age limit for political participation to 16 years https://tinyurl.com/49rva332 3. Analysis of Political Narratives on TikTok in the 2024 Election Campaign https://tinyurl.com/mpsc4cnp 4. The database of removed content from big tech platforms: Transparency and its illusion https://tinyurl.com/9v9cyk4j 5. SLAPP - a tool of the powerful to silence voices of criticism https://tinyurl.com/yp7hbm4n 6. Challenges in Campaigns During a Super Election Year: New Technologies and the Role of Institutions https://tinyurl.com/musfkh8v 7. Is disinformation profitable: Analysis of financial models of alternative media that spread disinformation https://tinyurl.com/48vn8ra7 8. Tangle of geopolitics, hidden interests and corruption: Gas and oil in Croatia and Serbia in the shadow of Russian aggression against Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/uz2ad9df 9. Recommendations for civil society advocacy organizations https://tinyurl.com/2d7m2he6 10. Civic Education in Vocational Schools – A Comparative Analysis of EU Countries https://tinyurl.com/msr8zbbv 11. Strengthening democracy: The influence of the public at large on the moral and epistemic qualities of democratic processes https://tinyurl.com/2s3fdaka 11. Recommendations for more transparency, integrity and strengthening of the Croatian Parliament https://tinyurl.com/33buxka9 12. Should Croatia introduce compulsory voting? https://tinyurl.com/4ab3kcsu 13. Gong’s Recommendations: How to Protect Civil Society from Attacks and Disinformation Campaigns https://gong 14. Guidelines for responsible and safe journalism in times of crisis https://tinyurl.com/ya7bwp3p 15. Gong’s Recommendations: How to Protect Civil Society from Attacks and Disinformation Campaigns https://tinyurl.com/55rc6haz 16. Institutionalised sources of corruption in Croatia: an experts’ insight: https://bit.ly/2Tno9Xc, https://bit.ly/36c2pQN 17. Research 'Will the next parliamentary elections in Croatia be unconstitutional?' https://bit.ly/2UgnUgw 18. Research on political literacy of high school graduate students: https://bit.ly/3waA7Av 19. Research paper 'Who is pressuring journalists and how: From politicians to advertisers' https://bit.ly/3CR3Bsh 20. Croatia and Serbia as a playground for foreign influences: documentary ‘Gas Masters’ (https://bit.ly/3KZhtnf) and regional analysis “The energy sector in Croatia and Serbia caught in interest networks“ (https://bit.ly/3qbUUnl, https://bit.ly/3JmasfS) 21. Policy brief for the the Conference on the Future of Europe: Insufficient oversight of EU affairs by citizens and national parliaments in Slovenia and Croatia https://bit.ly/3wiSRBx 22. Goverment attack on civil society in Croatia supported by EU funds: https://bit.ly/3hv3SXw 23. Civic education in Vocational Education and Training: The Case studies of Croatia, Romania and Thuringia https://gong.hr/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/vet_2_eng_final.pdf 24. European Commission Releases New Election Guidelines Following Gong's Report on von der Leyen https://tinyurl.com/3stjs4ev 25. Foreign Influence on Elections: Political Infighting or Real Threats? https://tinyurl.com/bdhxch7p Events and advocacy in 2026:Open Data Days Conference, Media Literacy Trainings, Civic education, First time voting educations, Anticorruption training, School for Democracy, EU literacy, Be aware of populisam education, School for local activists, workshops for citizens on the right of access to information, advocacy workshops for young people and civil society, Citizens’ Panels on the Future of Europe, Conference on the future of civic education, the event Educating a New Generation of Political Leaders, and a conference on the future of political literacy for vocational school students...
Interests Represented
Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members
Member Of
More information here: https://gong.hr/en/ and http://www.gong.hr/en/about-gong/what-is-gong/ ENEMO - The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations ALTER-EU - The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation ECF - European Civic Forum OGP – Open Government Partnership UNCAC The UN Convention against Corruption Civil Society Coalition EDRi - European Digital Rights Transparency CEE - Technology for Transparency and Accountability in CEE and Eurasia Platform 112 for the rule of law and human rights in Croatia The GOOD Initiative for the introduction of systematic and high-quality education for human rights and democratic citizenship in schools CROSOL - Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity ADMO - Adriatic Digital Media Observatory Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) South East Europe Digital Rights Network Partnership for Open Government Open Information Partnership Open Spending EU Coalition
Organisation Members
The list of members of Gong’s bodies (Gong Council, Supervisory Board, and Executive Board) can be found here - https://gong.hr/en/who-are-we/who-is-gong/. You can also find a list of Gong’s employees.
Additional Information
Gong's entire financial (and narrative report for 2023) can be found at the link: https://gong.hr/godisnji-izvjestaji/ Gong's annual report and financial report for 2024 will be published by mid-June 2025.
Commissioner Meetings
No recorded meetings with EU commissioners.