STRASBOURG — Right-wing lawmakers in the European Parliament are calling for more transparency over how nongovernmental organizations are funded by the European Union, reviving a decade-old push to restrict NGOs from lobbying with EU taxpayer money.
In doing so, Europe’s conservatives are using their increased numbers in Parliament to push an agenda that their critics argue is an attempt to decide who is and isn’t entitled to influence Brussels policymaking.
Members of the European Parliament hosted a public debate on this topic during the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, following a joint request from the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political group in Parliament, and the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
MEP Monika Hohlmeier, an EPP member and vice chair in the budget committee, said she had “discovered massive problems” with how funds were disbursed through the EU’s environment and climate funding program, known as LIFE. In particular, she claimed to have evidence the Commission’s environment department had been signing contracts with NGOs requiring them to lobby other Commission departments on environmental issues.