Commission admits financing undue lobbying activities

Today, the European Commission admitted to financing undue lobbying activities by some NGOs with EU taxpayers' money. The EPP Group welcomes the Commission's recognition of this problem and its commitment to take further action to prevent such cases in the future and to strengthen transparency.
 
"We strongly support the LIFE programme and recognise the very important role of NGOs. However, there have been clear instances of misconduct by some individual Commission officials and some NGOs. We therefore welcome the European Commission’s statement acknowledging the issue of undue influence. It is encouraging that steps have already been taken to prevent such incidents in the future, and we also support the Commission’s commitment to introduce further measures,” says Peter Liese, EPP Group Spokesman on the Environment.

"The Commission has finally admitted that, "in some cases, the work programmes submitted by NGOs and annexed to the operating grant agreements contained specific advocacy actions and undue lobbying activities." Today’s admission confirms and validates the EPP Group's concerns about these undue lobbying practices. Thanks to the efforts of the EPP Group, the Commission now clearly states that any grants given to NGOs participating in the LIFE programme cannot be used for ‘lobbying that targets specific policies or MEPs’. The Commission has agreed to work on preventing conflicts of interest at the staff level and to review transparency arrangements. This is good news for EU taxpayers, for the integrity and balance of EU Institutions and for the separation of powers. It is also good news for those parts of civil society organisations that work transparently and fairly. It is in their interest that the EU Institutions ensure that all NGOs are held to the same standards and rules," stresses Sander Smit MEP.

Today's statement by the European Commission can be read here.