Source: European Parliament
Priority question for written answer P-001894/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Alexander Sell (ESN), Hans Neuhoff (ESN)
The European Court of Auditors Special Report 11/2025, entitled ‘Transparency of EU funding granted to NGOs – Despite progress, the overview is still not reliable’, published on 7 April 2025, reveals serious deficiencies in the management of funds allocated to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) between 2021 and 2023. The document states that over EUR 7 billion was granted to organisations that, in many cases, self-declared as NGOs without proper verification by the Commission, and that some of them carried out undeclared lobbying activities in favour of the Commission itself.
In view of the above:
- 1.Is the Commission able to provide the full list of NGOs, or putative NGOs, cited anonymously in the ECA report referred to above, along with the specific irregularities identified in each case?
- 2.Why did the Commission fail to carry out the necessary checks on the legal status, independence and actual activities of the recipients of EU funds, particularly in cases of organisations that self-declared as NGOs, in breach of the principles of sound administration and transparency?
- 3.Under what procedure and within what timeframe does the Commission intend to launch an internal investigation to clarify any administrative or political responsibilities in the allocation and management of the above-mentioned funds?
Submitted: 13.5.2025