600+ NGOs call for an end to attacks on civil society in the European Parliament

Over 600 European civil society organisations (CSOs) have signed a letter calling for an end to the attacks on NGOs in the European Parliament. The attack, spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by the far- right groups, is fuelled by disinformation. The attack resorts to misleading arguments to artificially fabricate a scandal, and is carried and amplified by badly informed media articles. At a time when democratic values are being eroded across the EU and Member States, and civic actors acting for these values are increasingly under attack, this renewed offensive on funding for CSOs and on our legitimacy in the democratic process risks not only shrinking European civic spaces further but weakening democracy as a whole.