Brexit lessons ignored as EU hands £4.1bn to shady lobbying NGOs

The European Union has funnelled more than £4.1 billion into unaccountable NGOs over the last three years without adequate transparency or oversight, according to a damning new report — with one Brussels insider concluding: “It appears the EU has learned nothing from Brexit."

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) said the European Commission still cannot provide a reliable overview of which groups are receiving public money or how it is being used. Despite repeated promises to tighten controls, auditors found that “inconsistent classification,” poor data, and minimal checks mean there is still no clear picture of the system.

Between 2021 and 2023, Brussels handed €4.8 billion (£4.1bn) to NGOs. Thpe ECA said there were “hardly any restrictions” to stop those same groups lobbying the institutions from which they receive their funding.

Pieter Cleppe, editor-in-chief of BrusselsReport.eu, said the revelations struck at the heart of the democratic deficit which drove Britain out of the bloc in the first place.

He said: “Once again, it appears the EU has learned nothing from Brexit. Lack of accountability still plagues the EU institutions, with this latest scandal now revolving around eurocrats treating heavily taxpayer-funded NGOs as ‘civil society’, while there seem to be hardly any restrictions to prevent them from lobbying the same EU institutions from which they receive resources.

"In Brussels, centre-right Members of European Parliament are currently trying to put an end to this.

“Also in the UK, heavily taxpayer-funded NGOs lobby the Government. Perhaps the new scandal in Brussels may inspire policymakers in London to take a closer look at this problem and question the extent to which these groups are non-governmental and therefore legitimate representatives of ‘civil society’ that should be listened to.”

The audit was launched in the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal, in which NGO-linked figures were accused of funneling cash to MEPs. The auditors stopped short of claiming wrongdoing, but said that despite progress since 2018, the system remains deeply flawed.

They found that EU bodies still lack a consistent definition of an NGO and are failing to vet recipients properly. In one case, a research organisation with links to the cosmetics industry was classified as an NGO and received funding.

The report also confirmed that some EU-funded NGOs have used money from the bloc’s LIFE climate programme to lobby MEPs directly on environmental legislation — despite European Commission rules banning such activity. Officials have since warned recipients that such conduct constitutes “unauthorised lobbying”.

Critics argue the problem goes much deeper. Bert-Jan Ruissen, an MEP for the Dutch SGP party, said: “The EU funding to NGOs appears to be shrouded in mystery.

The Court of Auditors has concluded that there is no reliable overview of which NGOs are being funded and what they do with these funds.

It is particularly reprehensible that the European Commission handles public money in this way.”

He also claimed the Commission makes little effort to identify who is behind many NGOs, raising concerns about foreign influence and the misuse of funds for political ends.

His group has called for guarantees that EU money is not going to organisations lobbying on issues outside the EU’s remit, such as abortion.

The row has already sparked a political backlash in Brussels. Centre-right and far-right MEPs narrowly failed to block a tranche of €15 million in operational funds from the LIFE programme last week, amid concerns over lobbying.

Laima Andrikiene, speaking on behalf of the Court of Auditors, defended the decision to focus on NGOs and not commercial recipients, pointing to the political fallout from Qatargate. She said: “Transparency is crucial for a credible participation of NGOs in European policy.”

But others accused the right of waging a politically motivated war against civil society. Socialist MEP Bruno Tobback warned: “I fear that the Court of Auditors’ report will be misused by parties from the right and far right.”

The Commission has pledged to create a comprehensive NGO funding database by 2027 — but critics say trust is already wearing thin.