Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU - We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society

A coalition of European civil society organisations (CSOs) is protesting a campaign of disinformation led by some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the European People’s Party (EPP) and far-right groups. The attack specifically targets the legitimacy of public funding for environmental NGOs under the LIFE programme. The statement argues that independent CSOs are essential for a functioning democracy and a fully informed decision-making process, contrasting the modest public grants received by NGOs with the high spending of corporate lobbyists in Brussels.

• Certain MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and far-right groups are conducting an attack on European civil society organisations (CSOs) based on disinformation and misleading arguments to create a fabricated scandal.
• During a European Parliament Plenary debate on 22 January 2025, some MEPs falsely claimed that environmental organisations were paid by the European Commission to lobby the Parliament and cited fictional funding amounts in the billions of Euros.
• The EU's LIFE programme, which focuses on nature conservation and climate action, has a total budget of approximately €700 million per year, with €15.6 million of that allocated annually to environmental NGOs through open and competitive procedures.
• The statement asserts that public funding for CSOs is insufficient to meet their goals of providing evidence-based recommendations to policymakers and representing the needs of citizens regarding health, equality, and the environment.
• There is a significant disparity between the funding of non-profit advocacy and corporate lobbying; in 2024, the 50 largest corporate lobbying budgets in the EU totaled nearly €200 million, an increase of 66% since 2015.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU - We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4zxhehuh/ngo-funding-statement.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU - We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4zxhehuh/ngo-funding-statement.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU - We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/4zxhehuh/ngo-funding-statement.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearthndunprecedented, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU - We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/4zxhehuh/ngo-funding-statement.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }