EPP Group proposes new parliamentary structure to scrutinise NGO funding

The EPP Group has succeeded in convincing other political groups in the European Parliament to set up a dedicated Scrutiny Working Group on NGO financing within the Budgetary Control Committee to investigate how certain NGOs have been financed by the Commission.

"We have long said that not enough is being done to ensure transparency in NGO funding — and we meant it. Unlike the far-right, who talk about accountability but avoid meaningful action, and unlike the left, who do not want any rules for NGOs, the EPP Group has come up with a concrete proposal for the most effective way forward," said Tomáš Zdechovský MEP, the EPP Group's Spokesman on Budgetary Control.

"No one is more qualified than the members of the Budgetary Control Committee to investigate the occult financing of certain NGOs. The Budgetary Control procedure of the Parliament is already a strong and efficient tool to hold recipients of taxpayers' money accountable. We are strengthening the existing parliamentary structures, rather than creating an additional weak parallel committee. The new Scrutiny Working Group will have dedicated staff and will work faster and more efficiently, examining thousands of pages of contracts between NGOs and the European Commission. Unlike any special or inquiry committee in the European Parliament, this working group will have real budgetary control powers," said Siegfried Mureșan MEP, Vice-Chair of the EPP Group in charge of Budget and Structural Policies.