European funds granted to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) must be made more transparent, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors published on Tuesday 18 December 2018.
The auditors reported a first dysfunction in the identification of NGOs, which they considered "unreliable".
The report notes that the legal definition of these organisations is not uniform at international level, and points out that the criteria used by the Commission are mainly light.
The latter thus confines itself to verifying the non-profit purpose and the absence of any link to government of an organisation in order to qualify it as an NGO, on the basis of statements made by representatives of that organisation without sufficiently verifying these statements, according to the auditors.
"In this way, a university can be considered as an NGO", explained the rapporteur, Annemie Turtelboom, incredulously.
While the selection of NGO projects is generally transparent, its criteria vary according to the different Commission Directorates-General making the selection, the auditors explained. The selection processes for projects carried out in partnership with United Nations bodies are not always transparent, as they often use a different definition of NGOs, the Court notes.
"The data collected on NGOs are not uniform, particularly with regard to international NGO platforms", said Ms Turtelboom, who raised the issue of the opacity generated by indirect project management.
The information published on this subject by the Commission is incomplete and difficult to find because of the multiplicity of systems, the audit team pointed out again.
The Court of Auditors recommends improving the reliability of information by setting up an improved financial transparency system and a single registration system by the end of 2020. Finally, the institution asks the Commission to adopt a uniform approach in the publication of details of funds granted to NGOs.
The Commission has released around €11.3 billion of European funds between 2014 and 2017, according to the Court of Auditors' figures. (Original version in French by Mathieu Solal)