Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

30.4.2025 A10-0049/19

Amendment 19

Carla Tavares

on behalf of the S&D Group

Report A10-0049/2025

Gilles Boyer

Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023

(2024/2083(INI))

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 36

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

36. Notes that civil society organisations are an essential component of a vibrant democratic society, ensuring the broad coverage of diverse views in public debates; recognises that these organisations may receive Union funds to support their work in contributing to democratic dialogue and public engagement; emphasises that transparency in stakeholder meetings is fundamental to democratic integrity and should apply equally to all entities engaging with EU institutions; stresses that clear documentation and disclosure of such interactions strengthens public trust and democratic accountability; stresses that lobbying should be transparent, with full disclosure of all parties involved; takes notes of the allegations that the Commission subsidises NGOs to influence Members of the European Parliament; stresses that, if their existence is confirmed, such practices could distort policy discussions and contravene the principle of separation of powers and should therefore be ended; calls on the ECA to audit the programmes concerned and give its recommendations; expects the future ECA report to bring clarity on these issues; recalls that the ECA asked, in special report 05/202429 , for more efforts to be made to improve checks on the ground; notes with concern the ECA’s observation that lobbyists can choose to which category they belong, regardless of their legal form, to avoid disclosing financial information; notes that the EU is one of the largest global funders of civil society organisations; underlines the need for the EU Transparency Register Secretariat to enhance its systematic checks of the self-declarations of entities declaring themselves to be ‘NGOs, platforms, networks and similar’; observes that such systematic checks could be based on a set of criteria, including non-profit status, objectives relating to public benefit, and independence, to strengthen the trust in all entities registered in the EU Transparency Register, and should be supported by robust requirements for accountability and transparency;

36. Notes that civil society organisations are an essential component of a vibrant democratic society, ensuring the broad coverage of diverse views in public debates; recognises that these organisations may receive Union funds to support their work in contributing to democratic dialogue and public engagement; notes that the EU is one of the largest global funders of civil society organisations; emphasises that transparency in stakeholder meetings is fundamental to democratic integrity and should apply equally to all entities engaging with EU institutions; stresses that clear documentation and disclosure of such interactions strengthens public trust and democratic accountability; stresses that lobbying should be transparent, with full disclosure of all parties involved; notes that there have been allegations by some members of the Budgetary Control Committee that grant agreements concluded by the Commission with all types of beneficiary included detailed lobbying activities, which could be interpreted as potentially interfering with internal decision-making in the Union; takes note of the recent ECA special report on the transparency of EU funding granted to NGOs28a, which, while stating that the use of EU funding for NGO advocacy is legal and confirming that it is in line with the EU’s legal transparency requirements as laid down in the EU Financial Regulation, at the same time, points to the fact that more should be done to improve the transparency of EU funding received by all beneficiaries; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to implement the ECA recommendations regarding the screening of self-declarations in the EU’s Financial Transparency System, as well as to proactively monitor beneficiaries’ respect for EU fundamental values and principles; recalls, further, ECA special report 05/202429; underlines the need for the EU Transparency Register Secretariat to enhance its systematic checks of the self-declarations of entities declaring themselves to be ‘NGOs, platforms, networks and similar’; observes that such systematic checks could be based on a set of criteria, including non-profit status, objectives relating to public benefit, and independence, to strengthen the trust in all entities registered in the EU Transparency Register, and should be supported by robust requirements for accountability and transparency;

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29 ECA special report 05/2024 of 17 April 2024 entitled ‘EU Transparency Register – provides useful but limited information on lobbying activities’.

28a ECA special report 11/2025 of 7 April 2025 entitled ‘Transparency of EU funding granted to NGOs – Despite progress, the overview is still not reliable’.

29 ECA special report 05/2024 of 17 April 2024 entitled ‘EU Transparency Register – provides useful but limited information on lobbying activities’.

Or. en