Media: EU civil society on edge as conservative lawmakers target NGO funding

Brussels' influential NGO sector is facing a growing political storm as conservative forces in the European Parliament intensify scrutiny over how EU funds are used, raising fears of a future funding clampdown.

Civil society organisations — the second-largest lobbying group in Brussels after the business sector — have come under increasing pressure in recent months amid accusations of misusing EU grants for lobbying activities, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The European Commission recently acknowledged that some contracts did include “undue lobbying activities,” a statement that bolstered claims from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and prompted a wave of political attacks on NGOs.

The controversy deepened last week when the European Court of Auditors released a scathing report criticising the EU’s grant system for its “opaque” oversight. In a follow-up move, Members of the European Parliament passed amendments demanding stricter monitoring of how NGOs spend EU funds.

“It’s been stressful and, frankly, frustrating,” said Faustine Bas-Defossez, director at the European Environmental Bureau. “NGOs across Europe — many already stretched thin — have spent months responding to what is clearly a politically motivated and fabricated scandal.”

Transparency International EU Director Nicholas Aiossa also weighed in, accusing right-wing lawmakers of drawing inspiration from US political trends. “The centre right and far right are waging MAGA-inspired attacks on NGOs,” he said, referring to Donald Trump’s "Make America Great Again" slogan.

“As the far right and some in the EPP feel emboldened from what they see with Trump and [Elon] Musk, it’s clear the endgame of this spurious smear campaign is to defund NGOs,” Aiossa added.

Their concerns are not unfounded. Earlier this month, health NGOs were informed by EU officials that they should not expect operating grants from the bloc’s health directorate this year. In response, 28 NGOs wrote directly to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen seeking clarification on funding.

Meanwhile, some environmental NGOs applying for funds under the EU’s LIFE programme have reportedly been asked to remove references to advocacy work in order to qualify for support.

The overarching concern among NGOs is the upcoming negotiations over the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which will shape the bloc’s spending priorities for the next seven years. Early signs suggest that funds currently allocated to climate and research could be redirected to defence and industrial growth.

Between 2021 and 2023, NGOs received around €7.4 billion in EU funding, a lifeline for many civil society groups. With over 3,800 NGOs registered in the EU Transparency Register, their influence in Brussels is significant — often clashing with business interests and conservative agendas, particularly on issues like environmental regulation.

The EPP insists that the goal is transparency, not defunding. “We are not here to attack NGOs — most do excellent work,” said Czech MEP Tomas Zdechovsky, who leads the EPP’s budgetary control efforts.

The party, he added, aims to establish “an open dialogue” on “what we can do together for more transparency.”

But civil society leaders remain unconvinced.

“This whole campaign is a way to prepare an attack against funding for civil society in the next MFF,” said Carlotta Besozzi, director of Civil Society Europe. She warned that a politically motivated shift in EU funding would lead to “a space where only those with wealth will have the opportunity to be heard at EU level.”

“This will also prevent civil society and independent media from holding EU institutions accountable and [from] fight[ing] corruption,” Besozzi said.

Zdechovsky has pushed back against such claims. “We are not really here preparing any revolution which will stop financing NGOs,” he said. The focus, he explained, is on “concrete examples” of “around 20-25 NGOs [that] we have to check” for possible misuse of funds.

Still, civil society leaders fear that the effort may be part of a broader strategy to silence dissent and reduce their role in shaping EU policy.

“Yes, we are worried,” said Bas-Defossez. “The stakes are simply too high not to be.”

By Vugar Khalilov