The European Commission has admitted that EU funding for NGOs’ activities supporting the Green Deal constituted lobbying, and one conservative Polish MEP says that it amounts to a major scandal.
Now, the EU commission has announced that the €5.4 billion in funds earmarked for “green projects” can no longer be spent on lobbying,
The EU is all for environmental advocacy. It just doesn’t want to pay for it anymore.
The European Commission has told environmental NGOs that the money they receive from the EU’s green funds pot can no longer be used for advocacy and lobbying work, according to three letters seen by POLITICO” Politico reported, citing documents from inside the EU commission.
In an interview with Polish news outlet Do Rzeczy, PiS MEP Bogdan Rzońca said that “the European Commission has admitted that financing non-governmental organizations’ activities for the Green Deal from EU funds was lobbying, as described by the Politico portal, meaning that the EC paid for positive opinions on the Green Deal.
“MEPs are starting to ask Frans Timmermans about this matter, who fled Brussels to the Netherlands, and there he will face questions from Dutch MEPs. What is worse, Politico wrote that it could have been similar with other matters, meaning that we have an accusation that the European Commission is buying positive opinions, and this is a scandal.”
The Commission’s move is the latest in a series of decisions that enact anti-green campaign promises made by the center-right European People’s Party in the European elections. These include downgrading the protection status of wolves, delaying anti-deforestation rules and a plan to simplify sustainability reporting obligations for companies, all of which were contained in the EPP’s manifesto. The documents, released by the commission’s Green Deal agency (CINEA), refer to grant money from the EU’s environmental fund known as LIFE, which has €5.4 billion in funding between 2021 and 2027. Recipients include organizations such as WWF, Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth, as well as many smaller entities.
“The LIFE program fully contributes to achieving the objectives and targets of the European Green Deal. The budget for 2021-2027 has been set at €5.4 billion,” the EU website reported.
No more lobbying
Politico reports that “active lobbying activities against EU officials and institutions — previously considered acceptable — will no longer be eligible for funding. These include “organizing meetings or providing advocacy material” to specific EU institutions or officials, or “identifying specific members or officials of an institution to evaluate or describe their positions, or to discuss specific political content or outcome,” the letter reads, adding that these actions “may entail a reputational risk for the Union.”
NGOs funded by LIFE are still permitted to carry out smaller communication activities, such as preparing “policy summaries or other research papers” and organizing “workshops, conferences, training courses or awareness-raising campaigns”.
Nonprofits receiving LIFE grants must review their activities for 2024 and remove any activities that could be construed as lobbying.
Some NGOs say the decision to restrict lobbying directly contradicts the purpose of the funding.
“The purpose of the [LIFE] programme is to support the Commission in policy development, policy implementation. They want us to be involved,” said an anonymous official critizing the EU commission’s new approach.
