Source: European Parliament
Priority question for written answer P-001870/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Sigrid Friis (Renew), Jutta Paulus (Verts/ALE), Christophe Clergeau (S&D)
The European Court of Auditors’ special report on the transparency of EU funding, published on 7 April 2025, confirmed that there is no evidence of irregularities or misuse in terms of how NGOs are selected or how EU grants are used. In its statement of 1 April 2025, the Commission, however, said there had been ‘undue lobbying activities’ by NGOs receiving a grant under the LIFE programme. In the context of European institutions, ‘undue lobbying’ refers to attempts to influence decision-making processes in ways that are unethical, non-transparent or illegal, including activities such as providing misleading information, paying for access or using lavish gifts to achieve legislative outcomes.
- 1.Does the Commission have evidence of activities of the LIFE grantees that breach existing ethics requirements, mandatory transparency rules or other rules on lobbying, for instance those set out by the Transparency Register, that supports the accusation of ‘undue lobbying’?
- 2.Can it provide that evidence?
- 3.And if no substantial evidence of undue lobbying from LIFE grantees is found, is the Commission committed to rectifying its statement to repair the reputational damage caused to the NGOs?
Submitted: 12.5.2025