Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002046/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Marieke Ehlers (PfE), Auke Zijlstra (PfE), Sebastiaan Stöteler (PfE), Sebastian Kruis (PfE), Rachel Blom (PfE), Ton Diepeveen (PfE)
Between 2021 and 2023, according to Special Report 11/2025 of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), 90% (over 70 000) of the entities that received EU funding were not categorised as NGOs or as non-NGOs in spite of the fact that NGO status is required under European rules in order to claim the grants concerned. The Court takes the view that that increases the risk of organisations being wrongly categorised as NGOs.
In addition, there is as yet no guidance as to how to assess and penalise potential cases of failure to comply with the rules.
- 1.What will the Commission do if a thorough assessment of classification, in line with the ECA’s recommendations, shows that European funds have been wrongly granted to organisations that do not qualify as NGOs?
- 2.Will the Commission recover those funds?
- 3.Will current agreements with organisations wrongly categorised as NGOs be terminated immediately?
Submitted: 21.5.2025