EU: MEPs launch controversial NGO scrutiny group

In June 2025, the European Parliament established a Scrutiny Working Group (SWG) under the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) to examine EU funding granted to NGOs. Supported by the European People’s Party (EPP), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and the Patriots for Europe, the group follows earlier calls for an inquiry framed around unsubstantiated allegations of corruption in NGO operating grants. The SWG’s mandate and political narrative risk conflating civil society advocacy with commercial lobbying and portraying EU funding for NGOs as illegitimate, potentially undermining participatory democracy and shrinking civic space at EU and national levels.

The initiative follows earlier attempts by ECR MEPs to establish an inquiry committee based on allegations of a “corruption scandal” (“Timmermans gate”), despite no evidence of misuse of funds or political interference in NGO operating grants.

What happened?
On 19 June 2025, the Conference of Presidents decided to establish the SWG to scrutinise NGO funding. The group has a six-month mandate and can request grant agreements and summon Commission officials and beneficiaries for hearings. Its working document, adopted by simple majority, may be forwarded to the full CONT Committee without amendments and subsequently to the Conference of Presidents.

The first hearing on 26 November was boycotted by liberal and progressive groups, who described the exercise as a “witch hunt.” Discussions centred on whether NGO operating grants include advocacy activities. A narrative has emerged portraying advocacy as inappropriate lobbying and EU-level NGO funding as a misuse of taxpayers’ money. Subsequent hearings focused on EU financing of civil society’s advocacy.

Why is this significant?
The SWG risks institutionalising a narrative that delegitimises civil society advocacy. Advocacy by NGOs should be understood within the framework of participatory democracy, as recognised in Article 11 TEU, which obliges EU institutions to maintain open, transparent and regular dialogue with civil society.

Conflating public interest advocacy with corporate lobbying ignores the imbalance of resources and power between civil society and commercial actors. EU funding for operating grants enables participation, capacity-building, and inclusive policymaking; it is not equivalent to private-interest lobbying. Restricting or stigmatising such funding could distort democratic processes and limit pluralism.

The SWG aligns with national-level attacks on civil society in certain Member States, where governments have sought to restrict foreign funding, stigmatise advocacy, or portray NGOs as politically biased. The prominence given to actors linked to such national contexts, namely the Hungarian Fidesz party, confirms this.