Brussels must overhaul ‘opaque’ funding of NGOs, say auditors

RUSSELS — The European Union is handing out billions of euros to nongovernmental organizations each year without properly monitoring how the money is spent — or whether it’s even going to genuine NGOs.

That’s the main finding in a damning report from the European Court of Auditors which is likely to intensify a fierce political fight over how nonprofits use EU grant money.

Using words like “opaque” and “hazy,” the report finds the EU’s entire process for funding NGOs lacks transparency and calls for reform in the way grants are provided, monitored and disclosed.

“The picture of EU funding for NGOs remains hazy, as information on EU funding — including lobbying — is neither reliable nor transparent,” said Laima Andrikienė, the ECA member in charge of the report, who is also a former lawmaker with the center-right European People’s Party (EPP).

The criticism will give ammunition to conservative lawmakers in the European Parliament who want to overhaul the way EU money is doled out to NGOs, claiming it lacks transparency and is often used to lobby EU institutions — criticisms echoed in the report.

Hanging over the report is the question of lobbying. Are NGOs using public money to influence EU policymaking? And if they are, is it being done in line with EU values? On these questions, the ECA found the European Commission lacked curiosity and transparency.

The Commission “did not clearly disclose the information it held on NGO advocacy activities that were financed by EU grants,” the ECA said.

Despite the overall critical tone, the report did find some improvements since the ECA’s last assessment in 2018. It also noted that since the period audited in the report, the Commission had issued guidance to NGOs that EU funding should not be used for lobbying. But overall the system was “too opaque,” the ECA’s Andrikienė said. “Improvements are absolutely necessary. We cannot continue this business as usual.”

Importantly, the ECA found no evidence of NGOs using EU funds in a way that breached EU law or EU values — including via advocacy or lobbying work paid for with EU money — but warned the risk of this happening was higher because of the lack of transparency, the agency said during a press briefing on Monday.