PR | Attacks on NGOs in the European Parliament
570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’.
This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives. In this statement, we address:
- The source of this false narrative;
- Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding;
- Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding;
- The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation.
Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process.
Read the full statement with the list of all supporters here below, and our previous statement on this matter here.
Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.
For further information on this topic, please contact matteo.vespa@civilsocietyeurope.eu
25 April 2025
An Update on NGO Funding Attacks & How You Can Still Support
Dear signatories,
We at Civil Society Europe warmly thank you for your participation in our statement against NGO funding attacks that was launched on April 7th. By engaging with us and spreading our message, you directly contributed to raising awareness across Europe on this issue and are helping us turn the tide in favour of civil society. Since the statement’s release, we saw a report on the transparency of EU funding to NGOs by the European Court of Auditors be published, which confirmed that there is no evidence of irregularities or misuse in how NGOs are selected or how EU grants are used.
Furthermore, EU budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin, in response to a parliamentary question, reiterated the importance of independent civil society and spoke against the false narrative that NGOs engaged in ‘undue lobbying activities’ on the Commission's behalf.However, our work is far from over. The report on the discharge to be voted on May 7th, although improved, still contains problematic language.
Furthermore, in an attempt to prolong this attack on civil society, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament is pushing for the establishment of an inquiry committee on NGO funding. The purpose of an inquiry committee is to investigate genuine breaches of EU law and is not intended to be used to further push anti-NGO rhetoric. It’s due to these developments that we’ve decided to keep our statement open for further signatures until April 30th.
We ask you to please support us by spreading the form for signatures within your networks. We’ll then repost the statement before the relevant vote on May 7th to reiterate our stance against these attacks.
We thank you for your continued support.
Warm regards,
Civil Society Europe