N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
The European Court of Auditors published a devastating report on the European Commission’s funding of NGOs. Grist to the mill of the right wing in the European Parliament, which is increasingly targeting NGOs pampered by the left wing.
Between 2021 and 2023, €4.8 billion went to NGOs via Von der Leyen’s Commission. The Court of Auditors investigated the transparency of this billions NGO funding in the aftermath of Quatargate.
The conclusion is quite clear: ‘Despite some progress since our last audit in 2018, we still do not have a clear picture of EU funding for NGOs. This is because information on EU funding, including for lobbying, is nether reliable nor transparent’. According to the Court of Auditors, there is still a lack of a ‘comprehensive and reliable’ overview of NGO expenditure.
The report is politically explosive as it coincides with an offensive by the parliament’s right wing , the groups of the European People’s Party (EPP), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the far-right Patriots for Europe. Recently this coalition tried to cut funding for NGOs through the LIFE funding programme. They fell one vote short.
The Patriots for Europe are threatening to take the Commission to court if it continues to refuse to provide access to the contracts with NGOs that receive EU money. According to the Court of Auditor, this involves more than 12.000 NGOs. The ECR group is pushing for the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry committee into the financing of NGOs.
The left side in the parliament speaks of a ‘political witch hunt’ . On behalf of the Court Laima Andrikiene said when asked whether she was considering the potentially ‘explosive nature’ of the report, given the political debate, ‘We are independent. Transparency is crucial for credible participation of NGOs in EU policy’.
