Of the political groups in the European Parliament that the ECR hopes to bring together with its request for the establishment of a committee of inquiry into the European Commission’s funding of NGOs relating to the ‘European Green Deal’, neither the EPP or ESN as yet have an established position.
The ECR criticises the Commission for funding these NGOs “to carry out their lobbying efforts” (see EUROPE 13579/6).
The Patriots for Europe (PfE), for their part, declared their “full” support for the establishment of this committee of inquiry via social network X on Thursday 13 February. Contacted by Agence Europe, Arno Bausemer (ESN, German) said that his group “will support any investigation into the European Commission’s funding of private entities engaged in activities relating to the ‘European Green Deal’”.
On the EPP side, Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský explained that while support for the ECR’s proposal had not been “formally discussed”, Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control was already “fully capable of addressing the issue”. The EPP remains opposed to the practice of lobbying of the institutions by NGOs that have received grants from the Commission.
To be valid, the ECR’s request must receive the votes of at least a quarter of the Members of Parliament, then be approved by the Conference of Presidents (CoP) of the political groups before being ratified in plenary session. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)