The months-long campaign targeting civil society organisations reached a new crescendo today. The newly formed “Scrutiny Working Group” (SWG) of the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee convened for the first time – only for the Greens and other MEPs to the left of the EPP to leave the room within minutes in protest.

The SWG, initiated by conservatives and the far right, claims it wants to investigate alleged opaque or improper financing of NGOs by the European Commission. Their main targets are organisations working on environmental and climate issues. The working group is manufacturing a scandal where none exists. Both an internal review by the Commission and the European Court of Auditors have confirmed that none of the NGOs receiving EU funds violated any rules.

What remains is a working group whose sole purpose is to sow distrust towards civil society organisations, especially those whose values do not fit the right-wing conservative worldview. Conservatives – such as Dutch MEP Dirk Gotink – have even argued that recipients of EU funding should no longer be allowed to lobby the EU institutions. This would amount to a de facto professional ban for NGOs. It would force a complete rethink of how civil society is funded. Lobbying would then be reserved only for well-resourced business associations and industry representatives.

The SWG’s working methods and composition also violate basic democratic and parliamentary norms. Documents requested by the initiators were not shared with other MEPs. The agenda was not discussed beforehand. There is also almost no possibility to influence the final report – expected in about six months – which will be written exclusively by conservative and far-right members. For the Greens, continued participation in the working group is therefore pointless.

Daniel Freund, Green coordinator in the Budgetary Control Committee:

“We are boycotting this working group because it is being used as a political weapon – not as a tool for genuine oversight and transparency. For that, you would need to look at all recipients of EU funds, not just non-governmental organisations. What conservatives and the far right are doing here is a frontal attack on civil society. The working group is undemocratic, non-transparent, and not based on facts. By fixating on NGOs, it diverts media attention and Parliament’s resources away from the real risks to EU funds and misleads the public. So far, it is the far-right members of Parliament themselves who have embezzled millions in EU money. Those illegal activities should be investigated – instead of delegitimising organisations that work for the common good.”