Civic space under attack in the European Parliament
On 19 June 2025, a ‘Scrutiny Working Group on NGO Financing’ (SWG) was established within the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee following a proposal by the European People’s Party Group (EPP) in the European Parliament. The committee was extended on 13 May 2026. Its remit was to “investigate how NGOs have been financed by the [European] Commission”. The initiative was also backed by the far-right ‘Patriots for Europe’, the third largest party in the European Parliament. The formation of this group is the latest in a decade-long campaign seeking to discredit NGOs. Earlier, in January 2025, the Parliament held a debate on EU funding for NGOs through the LIFE programme, during which the Commission was accused of funding civil society groups to lobby on its behalf. In late 2024, the Commission issued guidelines prohibiting EU funding for NGO “advocacy work” that creates “reputational risk”.
However, despite the allegations of misuse of funds and Commission lobbying, the EU Court of Auditors (ECA) report (7 April 2025) on the transparency of NGO funding concluded that, of the 90 (worth over EUR 7 billion) NGOs investigated between 2021-2023, there was no clear evidence of corruption, misuse or ‘undue lobbying’. Additionally, for contracts to NGOs from the European Commission, no clear instruction was found to have been given by the Commission to lobby on its behalf.
Despite the scrutiny working group having failed to date to garner support from most of the political groupings in the Parliament – it continues to be boycotted by The Left, Greens/EFA, S&D, and Renew Europe, and having been unable to uncover any wrongdoing by NGOs, in May 2026 it renewed its mandate for another six months. Other political groups have accused the working group of being politically motivated, with Renew Europe leader Valérie Hayer describing it as a “witch-hunt against NGOs”.
What does this mean for civil society?
The European Parliament, by and large, continues to push back against what most MEPs consider a deliberate attempt to undermine civil society. Both in 2025 and 2026, the majority in the Parliament rejected amendments in the Budget Discharge report, which were framed to cast suspicion on NGOs. They also endorsed the importance of the LIFE funding programme for NGOs, while underlining the urgency of consistently applying transparency standards to all funding beneficiaries (not just NGOs).
Nonetheless, the mounting political pressure on NGOs, including the formation of the scrutiny working group, has a chilling effect on civil society organisations. As negotiations on the EU’s next long-term budget (the MFF 2028-2034) advance, it will be important to continue monitoring not only the funding amounts allocated to civil society organisations, but also the language used in the supporting regulations.
For instance, in the Commission’s July 2025 MFF proposals, it proposed that the LIFE programme, which has supported NGOs and other actors to protect the environment and respond to climate change for over 30 years, would be repealed, with elements of it integrated into a new European Competitiveness Fund and National Regional Partnership Plans. If agreed, this would remove a dedicated fund for environmental action at a time when it is urgently needed. However, it is worth noting that the European Parliament is advocating for the protection of the LIFE programme. Meanwhile, the Commission’s proposal for the CERV+ programme (within the AgoraEU regulation) raised concerns among civil society and other EU agencies because it omitted explicit language on the advocacy role of NGOs.
Keep a close eye on and subscribe to our CSO Hub for timely updates on the negotiations for the MFF 2028-2034 and other developments that impact European and Irish civil society.
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