This article examines civil society in the context of the world’s global governance. Civil society actors — independent of national governments and having their own supranational associations — can open up new opportunities for the creation of a new model of global governance. The article considers a model of civil society relations with governance structures in integrated associations, on the example of the European Union. The possibility of European civil society providing an alternative form of legitimacy to the European Union’s management structures is also analyzed. The author concludes that the search for solutions to the global problems of mankind makes it necessary to improve existing governance methods and seek new solutions on a planetary scale with the active participation of civil society.