“The Commission did not instruct [or] require non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to lobby Members of the European Parliament”, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration Piotr Serafin declared on Monday, 14 April, in response to a question sent by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (Renew Europe, Dutch) two months prior.
However, Piotr Serafin had pointed out back in December the problematic presence of “prescriptive obligations” in certain funding contracts between NGOs and the European Commission (see EUROPE 13542/10). The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday, 1 April, that in its opinion, the clauses in question contained “specific advocacy actions and undue lobbying activities” (see EUROPE 13612/16).
Piotr Serafin not only clears the European Commission’s name—despite accusations made by EPP (see EUROPE 13564/15), ECR (see EUROPE 13613/20), and PfE (see EUROPE 13580/12)—but also specifies that the “work programmes may or may not mention, among other [NGO] activities, advocacy related to environmental, climate and energy efficiency policies.” He does, however, refrain from specifying whether, in his opinion, members of the European Parliament can be lobbied by these NGOs.
See Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy’s question: https://aeur.eu/f/ggy
See Piotr Serafin’s answer: https://aeur.eu/f/ggx (Original version in French by Florent Servia)