2023/2122(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas Article 11 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) requires the EU institutions to maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society;

Amendment 10 #

Jaak MADISON, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Anders VISTISEN, Harald VILIMSKY, Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Silvia SARDONE, Marco ZANNI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Insists that NGOs cannot fulfil the role of a democratically-elected government and should therefore not unilaterally undertake government functions such as search and rescue operations as this effectively amounts to human smuggling;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Highlights the serious risks that people working for human rights NGOs face in their activities around the world, including threats against them and their families, intimidation and all forms of harassment, including through online channels and social media, abusive legal proceedings and prosecution, arbitrary detention, violence, torture, disappearances, killings and executions, that can force them to exile;

Amendment 12 #

Karol KARSKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Is alarmed by the fact that some governments, whose aim is to shrink civil society space and silence dissenting voices, have adopted legislation ~~based, inter alia, on security, counter-terrorism and the fight against foreign interference,~~ that imposes discriminatory obligations on human rights NGOs, stigmatises, restricts or bans their activities, including by closing these NGOs, freezing their assets, deterring their donors from contributing funds or depriving them from access to funding;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Is alarmed by the fact that some governments, whose aim is to shrink civil society space and silence dissenting voices, have adopted legislation based, inter alia, on security, counter-terrorism and the fight against foreign interference, that imposes discriminatory obligations on human rights NGOs and their workers, stigmatises, restricts or bans their activities, including by closing these NGOs, freezing their assets, deterring their donors from contributing funds or depriving them from access to funding;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Is alarmed by the fact that some governments, whose aim is to shrink civil society space and silence dissenting voices, have adopted legislation based, inter alia, on security, counter-terrorism and the fight against foreign interference, that imposes discriminatory obligations on human rights NGOs, stigmatises, restricts or bans their activities, including by closing these NGOs, freezing their assets, deterring their donors from contributing funds or depriving them from access to funding; expresses its deep concern regarding the fact that similar laws have also been proposed and adopted in some EU Member States;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Subheading 2

Transparency and accountability of human rights NGOs funded by the EU ~~2021-2027~~ external action budget

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines the ~~need to make more~~importance of ensuring transparent and accessible ~~to the public, the available~~ information on the beneficiaries, including NGOs, of EU external action funds dedicated to human rights and democracy support and to the related EU-funded projects which are implemented worldwide; acknowledges the precarious conditions faced by some human rights defenders and NGOs in non- EU countries; believes, in this regard, that confidentiality and data protection must be ensured in order not to put them at risk;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines the need to make ~~more~~as transparent and accessible as possible to the public, the available information on the beneficiaries, including NGOs, of EU external action funds dedicated to human rights and democracy support and to the related EU- funded projects which are implemented worldwide; acknowledges the precarious conditions faced by some human rights defenders and NGOs in non- EU countries; believes, in this regard, that confidentiality and data protection must be ensured in order not to put them at risk; calls on the Commission to develop more flexible strategies of supporting civil society actors in repressive environments that have difficulties benefitting from assistance through traditional funding channels due to their legal status, for instance non-registered entities or individuals;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines the need to make more transparent and accessible to the public, the available information on the beneficiaries~~, including NGOs,~~ of EU external action funds dedicated to human rights and democracy support and to the related EU- funded projects which are implemented worldwide; recognizes that NGOs have championed further transparency at EU level for years; acknowledges the precarious conditions faced by some human rights defenders and NGOs in non-EU countries; believes, in this regard, that confidentiality and data protection must be ensured in order not to put them at risk;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Underlines the need to make more transparent and accessible to the public, the available information on the beneficiaries, including NGOs, of EU external action funds dedicated to human rights and democracy support and to the related EU- funded projects which are implemented worldwide; acknowledges the ~~precarious~~risky and life threatening conditions faced by some human rights defenders and NGOs in non- EU countries; believes, in this regard, that confidentiality and data protection must be ensured in order not to put them at risk;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

C a. whereas interest representatives, including NGOs, should be subject to scrutiny, due diligence and transparency rules, in particular with regard to financing, with proportional criteria and non-cumbersome procedures, in particular for small NGOs;

Amendment 20 #

David LEGA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Stresses that the EU external action funds should not go directly or indirectly to non-governmental entities that do not adhere to European standards and values regarding human rights and democracy;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes the Commission’s new awareness, which has led to the cessation of EU funding and the recovery of funds paid to associations whose actions were contrary to EU values; calls on the Commission to continue its efforts to ensure that EU funds do not finance associations that do not respect EU values;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Calls on the EU and its Member States to be fully transparent about the allocation of funds to third countries for cooperation in migration matters, and to ensure that migration-related European funding, training or other forms of support to third countries do not directly or indirectly facilitate the perpetration of human rights violations, nor reinforce and perpetuate impunity for such violations; urges to subject any EU or Member State-funded migratory cooperation project or initiative to thorough and independent ex-ante human rights impact assessments and monitoring throughout the project, and to disclose the results of such assessments and monitoring to the European Parliament;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Calls on the Commission to improve the clarity and organisation of information and data available in the Financial Transparency System on the beneficiaries of EU-funded projects ~~to be implemented~~, in particular, in the field of human rights and democracy support; stresses that the publication of this information should in no terms put at risks the beneficiaries;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Calls on the Commission to improve the clarity and organisation of information and data available in the Financial Transparency System on the beneficiaries of EU-funded projects to be implemented~~, in particular, in the field of human rights and democracy support~~;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Calls on the Commission to improve the clarity and organisation of information and data available in the Financial Transparency System on the beneficiaries of EU-funded projects to be implemented, in ~~particular,~~cluding in the field of human rights and democracy support;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Recommends that the legal obligations on transparency and financial accountability be applied identically to all human rights NGOs benefiting from EU funding, independently of whether they take on the role of coordinator or member of an EU-funded project consortium;deleted

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Recommends that the legal obligations on transparency and financial accountability be applied identically to all ~~human rights NGOs benefiting from EU funding, independently of whether they take on the role of coordinator or member of an~~interest representatives benefiting from EU- fund~~ed project consortium~~ing;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Recommends that the legal obligations on transparency and financial accountability be applied ~~identically to all human rights NGOs benefiting from EU funding, independently of whether they take on the role of coordinator or member~~to all NGOs beneficiaries of an EU- fund~~ed project consortium~~ing;

Amendment 29 #

Jaak MADISON, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Anders VISTISEN, Harald VILIMSKY, Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Silvia SARDONE, Marco ZANNI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Calls for the scope of the anti- money laundering directive to be broadened to also apply to NGOs;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)

C b. whereas strengthening the transparency requirements for interest representatives and entities, including NGOs, could serve the purpose of tracing foreign interference; whereas these requirements, however, should not stigmatise legitimate foreign funding;

Amendment 30 #

Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Marco ZANNI, Silvia SARDONE, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Jaak MADISON, Harald VILIMSKY

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Points out that human rights NGOs receiving EU funding give visibility to the EU’s support in different ways, and sometimes incompletely, through various communication channels, including official websites; calls for the establishment of harmonised approaches to make EU funding for human rights and democracy support more transparent and visible to the public; calls for ensuring that the EU does not fund NGOs that facilitate illegal migration by sea or by land;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Points out that ~~human rights~~ NGOs receiving EU funding give visibility to the EU’s support in different ways~~, and sometimes incompletely,~~ through various communication channels, including official websites; calls for the establishment of harmonised approaches to make EU funding ~~for human rights and democracy support more~~ transparent and visible to the public;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Points out~~Notes that human rights NGOs receiving EU funding give visibility to the EU’s support in different ways, and sometimes incompletely, through various communication channels, including official websites; underlines that sometimes these differences could also depend on the fact that, under certain authoritarian and illiberal regimes, the dissemination of such information may put human rights NGOs at risk; calls for the establishment of harmonised but flexible approaches to make EU funding for human rights and democracy support more ~~transparent and~~ visible to the public, while avoiding putting at risk NGOs that operate in critical local civic space contexts;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Points out that human rights NGOs receiving EU funding must be transparent about the funding received and give visibility to the EU’s support in different ways, ~~and sometimes incompletely,~~ through various communication channels, including official websites; calls for the establishment of harmonised approaches to make EU funding for human rights and democracy support more transparent and visible to the public;

Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Points out that human rights NGOs receiving EU funding give visibility to the EU’s support in different ways, and sometimes incompletely, through various communication channels, including official websites; recognizes that visibility may put the human rights NGOs at risk in some countries with reduced civic spaces; therefore calls for the establishment of harmonised approaches to make EU funding for human rights and democracy support more transparent and visible to the public while always enabling exemptions to such visibility requirements based on local civic space contexts ;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Stresses that the funding by non- EU countries of EU-based legal entities, including human rights NGOs, while also carrying out lobbying or advocacy activities within the EU and aiming to influence EU foreign policymaking, raises questions as to their objectives; denounces the use of organisations sponsored by non- EU country governments (government- organised NGOs (GONGOs)) to spread disinformation and false narratives related, in particular, to human rights issues; highlights that, in the context of recent corruption allegations against some Members of the European Parliament, an NGO, whose stated purpose was to carry out advocacy activities on human rights, is suspected to have been used as a vector of foreign interference; considers that there is a public interest in knowing the financial sources, including non-EU funding, of the stakeholders active in the fields of lobbying or advocacy, while any measures in this regard need to be proportional, preventing any unintended limitations on fundamental rights;

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. SDenounces the use of organisations sponsored by governments of non-EU countries (government- organised NGOs (GONGOs)) to spread disinformation and false narratives related, in particular, to human rights issues; stresses that the funding by non-EU countries of EU-based legal entities, including human rights NGOs, while also carrying out lobbying or advocacy activities within the EU and aiming to influence EU foreign policymaking, raises questions as to their objectives; denounces the use of organisations sponsored by non-EU country governments (government-organised NGOs (GONGOs)) to spread disinformation and false narratives related, in particular, to human rights issuesmay at times expose these NGOs to external influences; believes that transparency requirements should not, however, stigmatise legitimate foreign funding; highlights that, in the context of recent corruption allegations against some Members of the European Parliament, an NGO, not registered in the EU Transparency Register and whose stated purpose was to carry out advocacy activities on human rights, is suspected to have been used as a vector of foreign interference; considers that there is a public interest in knowing the financial sources, including non-EU funding, of ~~the~~all stakeholders active in the fields of lobbying or advocacy;

Amendment 37 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Stresses that the funding by non-EU countries of EU-based legal entities, including human rights NGOs, while also carrying out lobbying or advocacy activities within the EU and aiming to influence EU foreign policymaking~~, raises questions as to their objectives; denounces the use of organisations spons~~ may at times expose these NGOs to external influences; denounces the use of government-organised NGOs (GONGOs), think tanks, companies, or other private bodies, financially supported by non-EU country governments ~~(government-organised NGOs (GONGOs))~~, to spread disinformation and false narratives related, in particular, to human rights issues; highlights that, in the context of recent corruption allegations against some Members of the European Parliament, an NGO, which was not registered in the Transparency Register and whose stated purpose was to carry out advocacy activities on human rights, is suspected to have been used as a vector of foreign interference; considers that there is a public interest in knowing the financial sources, including non-EU funding, of all the stakeholders active in the fields of lobbying or advocacy; be they NGOs or private companies and lobby groups, and that similar requirements should apply to both;

Amendment 38 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Stresses that the funding by non-EU countries of EU-based legal entities, including human rights NGOs, while also carrying out lobbying or advocacy activities within the EU and aiming to influence EU foreign policymaking, raises questions as to their objectives; denounces the use of organisations sponsored by non- EU country governments (government- organised NGOs (GONGOs)) to spread disinformation and false narratives related, in particular, to human rights issues; recalls in this respect the findings of its resolution of 1 June 2023 on foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation, and of 13 July 2023 on recommendations for reform of the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption, highlighting the risks of foreign interference and disinformation stemming from some NGOs funded by non-EU countries; highlights that, in the context of recent corruption allegations against some Members of the European Parliament, an NGO, whose stated purpose was to carry out advocacy activities on human rights, is suspected to have been used as a vector of foreign interference; considers that there is a public interest in knowing the financial sources, including non-EU funding, of the stakeholders active in the fields of lobbying or advocacy;

Amendment 39 #

Karol KARSKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Stresses that the funding by non-EU countries of EU-based legal entities, including human rights NGOs, while also carrying out lobbying or advocacy activities within the EU and aiming to influence EU foreign policymaking, raises questions as to their objectives; denounces the use of organisations sponsored by non- EU country governments (government- organised NGOs (GONGOs)) to spread disinformation and false narratives related, in particular, to human rights issues; highlights that, in the context of recent corruption allegations against some Members of the European Parliament, an NGO, whose stated purpose was to carry out advocacy activities on human rights, is suspected to have been used as a vector of foreign interference; considers that there is a public interest in knowing the financial sources, including non-EU funding, of the stakeholders active in the fields of lobbying or advocacy; calls for a thorough overhaul of the processes leading to monitor the activities of NGOs aiming to influence EU foreign policymaking and detect corruption schemes, especially the activities of GONGOs;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

C a. whereas the Commission has strong mechanisms for the control of NGO expenditure, among the most strict in Europe; whereas the “Qatargate” and “Moroccogate” scandals involved an NGO which was not registered in the Transparency Register;

Amendment 40 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

Amendment 41 #

Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Marco ZANNI, Silvia SARDONE, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Jaak MADISON, Harald VILIMSKY

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Calls for a review of the current rules for NGOs, in particular those related to governance, budget, anti money-laundering, foreign influence and persons of significant control, with the aim of increasing their transparency and accountability; calls on the Commission to study if broadening the scope of anti- money laundering rules, particularly by including NGOs, would have prevented these events from taking place;

Amendment 42 #

Jaak MADISON, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Anders VISTISEN, Harald VILIMSKY, Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Silvia SARDONE, Marco ZANNI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Recalls that the NGO "Fight Impunity" was a central player in the recent Qatargate scandal in the European Parliament;

Amendment 43 #

Jaak MADISON, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Anders VISTISEN, Harald VILIMSKY, Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Silvia SARDONE, Marco ZANNI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Expresses concern about the lobbying practices of certain NGOs in the European Parliament; notes that certain political groups use the texts provided by NGOs without any changes and table them in the form of motions for resolution in the Parliament, specifically when it comes to Rule 144 motions;

Amendment 44 #

Anna BONFRISCO, Susanna CECCARDI, Marco ZANNI, Silvia SARDONE, Jean-Lin LACAPELLE, Jaak MADISON, Harald VILIMSKY

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Strongly affirms that under no circumstances, NGOs or any other stakeholder shall substitute Members of the European Parliament in making political decisions;

Amendment 45 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9

9. Welcomes the progress made in the use of the EU Transparency Register and is committed to continuing its work to expand the scope of the Register and strengthen the monitoring of the data it contains; points out that, as a general rule, annual financial data on the sources of funding, including EU grants and domestic and non-EU donations, of registered legal entities are made publicly available under the EU Transparency Register; stresses that, since 12 July 2023, the participation of ‘interest representatives’ as invited active guests at Parliament’s events is conditional on their prior registration in the EU Transparency Register, except if registration is likely to endanger an individual’s life or personal safety or where other compelling reasons require confidentiality; recalls that the EU Transparency Register (Annex II) requires that NGOs provide their main sources of funding by category; stresses that the measures requiring NGOs to disclose all funding sources must take into account the situation of NGOs operating in countries under authoritarian and illiberal regimes, in particular when the disclosure of such information could put them and their work at risk because of the application of repressive legislation such as ‘foreign agents’ laws and similar;

Amendment 46 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9

Amendment 47 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9

9. Welcomes the progress made in the use of the EU Transparency Register and is committed to continuing its work to expand the scope of the Register and strengthen the monitoring of the data it contains; points out that, as a general rule, annual financial data on the sources of funding, including EU grants and domestic and non-EU donations, of registered legal entities are made publicly available under the EU Transparency Register; stresses that, since 12 July 2023, the participation of ‘interest representatives’ as invited active guests at Parliament’s events is conditional on their prior registration in the EU Transparency Register, except if registration is likely to endanger an individual’s life or personal safety or where other compelling reasons require confidentiality and also imposes a heavy bureaucratic burden on small civil society organizations based in other continents who do not usually work or conduct advocacy activities in Brussels;

Amendment 48 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Recognises, however, that the EU institutions, including Parliament, should have been more diligent in ensuring greater transparency, integrity and accountability regarding their framework for interaction with entities listed in the EU Transparency Register; also acknowledges that further resources are needed to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the lobbying or advocacy activities of legal persons or entities, including human rights NGOWelcomes the European Parliament's decision of 13 September 2023 amending Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability; stresses that these measures should, under no circumstance, contribute directly or indirectly to endanger or put at risk any individual such as human rights defenders or journalists;

Amendment 49 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Recognises, however, that the EU institutions, including Parliament, should ~~have been~~be more diligent in ensuring ~~greater~~ transparency, integrity and accountability regarding their framework for interaction with entities listed in the EU Transparency Register; calls in this regard for an increased scrutiny by Parliament's services in order to enforce the amended rules on integrity and transparency as adopted by Parliament on 13 September 2023; highlights that resources should be provided for this as a matter of priority; also acknowledges that further resources in general are needed to strengthen the transparency and accountability of ~~the~~all lobbying or advocacy activities of legal persons or entities~~, including human rights NGOs~~;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)

C b. whereas the European Parliament resolution of 8 March 2022 on the shrinking space for civil society in Europe (2021/2103(INI)) states that CSOs report discriminatory and restrictive funding practices in certain Member States;

Amendment 50 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Recognises, however, that the EU institutions, including Parliament, should have been more diligent in ensuring greater transparency, integrity and accountability regarding their framework for interaction with entities listed in the EU Transparency Register; highlights that requirements demanded to NGOs in accessing the EU institutions are far greater than for other interest groups for example companies, or consultancies; also acknowledges that further resources are needed to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the lobbying or advocacy activities of legal persons or entities, including ~~human rights NGO~~NGOs, companies, business/professional associations, academia, consultants, think tanks, including the sprawling network of consultancies or third countries;

Amendment 51 #

Karol KARSKI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Recognises, however, that the EU institutions, including Parliament, should have been more diligent in ensuring greater transparency, integrity and accountability regarding their framework for interaction with entities listed in the EU Transparency Register; also acknowledges that further resources are needed to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the lobbying or advocacy activities of legal persons or entities, including human rights NGOs; recognizes the threat posed by NGOs carrying out illegal activities, inter alia, the organizations operating in the Mediterranean Sea, which are profiting from human trafficking and increasing the security challenges for all EU Member States;

Amendment 52 #

Deirdre CLUNE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Welcomes its own decision adopted on 13 September 2023, to make amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability; acknowledges that Members of European Parliament should only meet interest representatives in the field of human rights that are registered in the EU Transparency Register;

Amendment 53 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Recommends that legal entities 11. engaging in lobbying, including NGOs, be required to register in the EU Transparency Register as a condition for applying for EU grants and receiving EU funding; cCalls all EU institutions for far stricter implementation, enforcement and supervision of adherence to the current provisions on the EU Transparency Register; calls for the opening of interinstitutional tallks ~~on the Commission to present proposals to enhance the transparency of interest representati~~to review the Interinstitutional Agreement on the EU Transparency Register long b~~odies and to ensure that lobby~~efore the deadlinge o~~r advocacy activities, in particular on behalf of non-EU country governments, their~~f July 2025; insists that the EU Transparency Register should be strengthened by increasing its budgets and ~~their policy scope are properly disclosed under the EU Transparency Register and that false declarations are subject to sanctions.~~its staff so that it is able to offer support to all applicants and registrants, especially small entities and NGOs, throughout the registration process and verify the information they provided more thoroughly;

Amendment 54 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Recommends that legal entities engaging in lobbying, including NGOs, be required to register in the EU Transparency Register as a condition for applying for EU grants and receiving EU funding as long as it does not put at risks their existence due to the use of that information by authoritarian or illiberal regimes to attack them; calls on the Commission to present proposals to enhance the transparency of interest representation bodies and to ensure that lobbying or advocacy activities, in particular on behalf of non-EU country governments, their budgets and their policy scope are properly disclosed under the EU Transparency Register and that false declarations are subject to sanctions.

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Recommends that legal entities engaging in lobbying, including NGOs, be required to register in the EU Transparency Register as a condition for applying for EU grants and receiving EU funding and that their data be subject to the confidentiality exceptions outlined above; calls on the Commission to present proposals to enhance the transparency of interest representation bodies and to ensure that lobbying or advocacy activities, in particular on behalf of non-EU country governments, their budgets and their policy scope are properly disclosed under the EU Transparency Register and that false declarations are subject to sanctions.

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Recommends that legal entities engaging in lobbying~~, including NGOs,~~ be required to register in the EU Transparency Register as a condition for applying for EU grants and receiving EU funding; calls on the Commission to present proposals to enhance the transparency of interest representation bodies and to ensure that lobbying or advocacy activities~~, in particular on behalf of non-EU country governments,~~ their budgets and their policy scope are properly disclosed under the EU Transparency Register and that false declarations are subject to sanctions., while thoroughly assessing new measures, which shall not create disproportionate burdens nor have unintended limitations on fundamental rights;

Amendment 57 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Requests that all changes proposed to current procedures be discussed with NGOs to ensure that a full understanding of the potential consequences of changes on the sector is discussed with representatives, so as to weigh transparency and accountability objectives with potential consequences and implications on an enabling environment for civil society, and to ensure adopted measures are proportional and fair;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)

C c. whereas in September 2023, the European Parliament amended its Rules of Procedures with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses that NGOs and CSOs working for the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law both within and outside the EU play an important role in our societies ~~around the world~~; highlights, in this regard, the crucial work of these organisations in ~~collecting public interest information, exploring and~~actively promoting and defending human rights and democracy, combating any form of discrimination, pro~~pos~~moting ~~new ways of promoting human rights and democracy~~intercultural dialogue, fighting for a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, informing individuals, especially the most vulnerable, about their rights and standing up for them when those rights are violated, promoting civic engagement and public participation, countering disinformation and hate speech, collecting public interest information and holding governments and elected representatives accountable to citizens, and fighting corruption and impunity for human rights abuses;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Stresses~~Commends the important role that NGOs and CSOs working for the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law play ~~an important role~~ in societies around the world; highlights, in this regard, the crucial work of these organisations in collecting public interest information, exploring and proposing new ways of promoting human rights and democracy, informing individuals and groups, especially the most vulnerable, about their rights and standing up for them when those rights are violated, denouncing human and civil rights violations, promoting civic engagement and public participation, countering disinformation and hate speech, holding governments and elected representatives accountable to citizens, and fighting corruption and impunity for human rights abuses;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses that NGOs and CSOs working for the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law play an ~~important~~essential role in societies around the world; highlights, in this regard, the crucial work of these organisations in collecting public interest information, exploring and proposing new ways of promoting human rights and democracy, informing individuals, especially the most vulnerable, about their rights and standing up for them when those rights are violated, promoting civic engagement and public participation, countering disinformation and hate speech, holding governments and elected representatives accountable to citizens, and fighting corruption and impunity for human rights abuses;

source: 753.795

2023/10/24 LIBE 139 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

— having regard to its resolution of 8 March 2022 on the shrinking space for civil society in Europe,1a — having regard to the Council Conclusions of 14 March 2023 on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; The role of the civic space in protecting and promoting fundamental rights in the EU, — having regard to Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union, — having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and in particular Article 12 thereof, — having regard to Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, — having regard to its resolution of 7 October 2020 on the establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights,1b — having regard to the Joint Guidelines on Freedom of Association (CDL- AD(2014)046) adopted by the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), _________________ 1a OJ C 347, 9.9.2022, p. 2–14. 1b OJ C 395, 29.9.2021, p. 2.

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Recital E (new)

E. Whereas the spread of the COVID- 19 pandemic has seen an unprecedented engagement of NGOs in providing solutions to the pandemic and providing support to people in vulnerable situations;

Amendment 100 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are likely sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding and that the overlap of additional reporting/public disclosure obligations with other already existing measures should be avoided in order not to create an environment of excessive state monitoring;

Amendment 101 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Annika BRUNA, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are ~~likely~~ insufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning funding and particularly NGO funding;

Amendment 102 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are ~~likely~~not sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding;

Amendment 103 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are ~~likely~~ insufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding;

Amendment 104 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are ~~likely~~ insufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding;

Amendment 105 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are ~~likely~~ sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding;

Amendment 106 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are likely insufficient ~~for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning~~to ensure proper scrutiny of NGO funding;

Amendment 107 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Notes that in 2018 the European Court of Auditors (ECA) drew attention to the fact that the European Commission’s funds to NGOs cannot be properly monitored, since there are no effective oversight mechanisms available; highlights that between 2014 and 2017, 11.3 billion euros of EU taxpayers’ money was allocated to NGOs, while it is clear that the Commission did not have sufficiently detailed information on how the money was spent;1a _________________ 1a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADoc uments/SR18_35/SR_NGO_FUNDING_ EN.pdf

Amendment 108 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Recalls that recipients of AMIF funds have greater transparency obligations than those laid down by Financial regulation; recalls that Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) is set up for the period 2021-2027, with a total of EUR 9.88 billion, whereas the largest part is implemented under the shared management with decreased transparency as the final recipients of funds do not have the obligations to register in Financial Transparency System;

Amendment 109 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Calls for a review of the current rules governing the financing and transparency of NGOs; calls on the Commission to demand maximum transparency and accountability from all NGOs that are involved in EU decision- making, with special regard to the NGOs that receive EU money; calls on the Commisssion to stop giving privileges and exemptions to NGOs, especially when it comes to their transparency and accountability;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Recital E (new)

E. Whereas the Council Conclusions on the role of civic space and promoting fundamental rights in the EU and the European Parliament report on shrinking civic space in the EU call for the protection of civic space and for the active protection civil society organisations;

Amendment 110 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Regrets that Financial Transparency System does not show actual disbursements of grants or redistribution of grants between beneficiaries (multi-beneficiary projects), as this is not required by Article 38 of the Financial Regulation, notes that the Commission receives this information;

Amendment 111 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6 c. Recalls that around 70% of EU programmes and funds are implemented under shared management; further emphasises that for the remaining 30% the Court found that the Commission’s Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) which only applies to directly and indirectly managed funds relies too much on declarations of honour given by the applicants instead of vetting them which creates a high risk of EU funds benefiting unknown beneficiaries with various levels of security risks attached;

Amendment 112 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6 c. Calls on the Commission to develop a clear picture of the NGOs that receive EU funding, what this funding is used for, and the extent to which EU- funded NGOs receive and are influenced by other funding sources;

Amendment 113 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6 d. Calls on the Commission to put in place a system where NGOs are obliged to provide detailed public information about EU and other sources of funding on their websites;

Amendment 114 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

~~7. Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGOs.~~deleted

Amendment 115 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

Amendment 116 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

Amendment 117 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Warns ~~emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments~~against the risk of foreign interference through NGOs coming from malign third countries as highlighted in its resolution of 13 July 2023 on recommendations for reform of European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti- corruption; emphasises that any measures taken to prevent malign foreign interference through NGOs should not be used to repress civil society and NGOs.

Amendment 118 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGOs.~~Underlines that transparency and accountability are two of the guiding budgetary principles of the European Union, enshrined notably in the Financial Regulation, and transparency and accountability measures must only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued and the size of the organisation;

Amendment 119 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGOs.~~Reiterates its call for a coordinated EU strategy to tackle foreign interference, including via funding of civil society organisations operating in the EU by hostile actors with an intention to undermine democratic processes in member states and at Union level, in line with the recommendations set out in the Parliament’s ‘Report on foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation’;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Recital F (new)

F. Whereas Russia’s invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine has also seen an extensive support and cooperation from NGOs towards the victims of war;

Amendment 120 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGOs; emphasises, however, that some NGOs may be used as a tool of influence by foreign entities affecting the internal and external security of, as well as the democratic process in Member States.

Amendment 121 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments and EU institutions to repress civil society and NGOs; emphasises that the contradictory space of the NGO sector must constantly be negotiated, and that there is no one- size-fits-all approach to dealing with it.

Amendment 122 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Annika BRUNA, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Warns ~~emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGO~~that the lack of transparency on funding enables misappropriation of funds, and raises legitimate suspicions about the allocation of EU funds directly or indirectly financing Islamic terrorist organizations, such as Hamas.

Amendment 123 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress and stigmatize civil society and NGOs.

Amendment 124 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that thi~~Points out that transparency requirements for interest representatives can ~~be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGOs.~~d entities, including NGOs, should not stigmatise legitimate foreign funding;

Amendment 125 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Stresses that transparency and accountability requirements apply to all European Union institutions and Member States, including public authorities, private and corporate entities, in addition to NGOs, therefore these requirements should be adequately enforced throughout the EU with disproportionately and adversely affecting NGOs as scapegoats;

Amendment 126 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Calls on the Commission to propose a regulation that establishes interest representation registers in the Member States, which sets equal transparency requirements for all organisations that seek to influence policy outcomes, independent of their legal status and sources of funding;

Amendment 127 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Stresses that it is imperative that NGOs do their utmost to ensure compliance with the EU data protection regime.

Amendment 128 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in certain Member States and at the EU level; recalls that the rules on transparency of funding in general, identically to the rules in the field of taxation and the fight against money laundering, must not be abused to obstruct activities of NGOs and create a chilling effect affecting their members and donors;

Amendment 129 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)

7 c. Warns emphatically against the weaponisation of the concept of ‘foreign interference’ and emphasises that this can be and is being used by governments to repress civil society and NGOs;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Recital G (new)

G. Whereas, to this end, it is crucial that NGOs benefit from an environment that allows them to thrive throughout the Union;

Amendment 130 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)

7 d. Deplores the recent oversimplification by which those NGOs have been deliberately portrayed in a negative light and targeted for further restrictions which receive substantial co- funding from the EU budget and are predominantly financed by non-European States, networks or foundations and which deliver research that regularly negatively impacts European industry and transport providers, as such negative campaign may be attributed to the lobby promoting the interests of European industry giants disregarding green policy and environmental concerns;

Amendment 131 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)

7 e. Believes that current EU instruments involving the European Parliament, the Commission and the NGO sector with added independent third- party verification of compliance are likely sufficient with minor adjustments for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding, and introducing new burdensome transparency and accountability rules against NGOs under the pretext of the public outrage against corruption and foreign interference should be avoided;

Amendment 132 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 f (new)

7 f. Shares the view that the contracted EU funds be tracked up to the final beneficiaries in a systematic, standardised and harmonised manner across information and transparency platforms at EU level with a view to preventing and fighting against fraud and ensuring that EU funds are not used against democratic principles and values of the EU;

Amendment 133 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 g (new)

7 g. Appreciates that the Commission ensures that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number, amounts and nature of lobbying contacts they have, and welcomes that a growing number of EU-funded NGOs publish online their pursued interests and financial data in compliance with the applicable regulations adding that a more proactive approach from NGOs to public transparency would be expected that goes beyond the minimal existing requirements for EU grant funding;

Amendment 134 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 h (new)

7 h. Welcomes that the Commission provides effective enforcement of the existing transparency and accountability rules, and calls on Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as appropriate legal remedies must be provided for the NGOs in case of any restrictions;

Amendment 135 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 i (new)

7 i. Welcomes that the Commission provides adjustments to the Financial Regulation by including in the Financial Transparency System the details of EU grants awarded to NGOs under indirect management, reducing the time between the award of grants and publication in it and requiring systematic publication by EU-funded NGOs of details of funding received from the EU and other sources over a five-year period;

Amendment 136 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 j (new)

7 j. Calls on the Commission to continue its work on streamlining databases and ensuring that the Financial Transparency System becomes more user- friendly; stresses that all types or subtypes of beneficiaries, including for profit corporate entities or consultancies, should be searchable as a category in the register, not only NGOs;

Amendment 137 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 k (new)

7 k. Recalls that circumvention of transparency and accountability requirements cannot be prevented or remedied by creating new, burdensome rules on transparency and accountability, such as setting up a single, interoperable IT system for data mining and risk scoring including recipients’ data and beneficial owners’ data, income, amount spent on lobbying, or conducting comprehensive financial pre-screening of NGOs before they are listed in the Transparency Register, or developing a centralised certification system for NGOs wishing to apply for EU funding, which create further legal and administrative obstacles and may hinder smaller NGOs from receiving EU or foreign funds;

Amendment 138 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 l (new)

7 l. Stresses that top-down national regulation involves the risk of politically driven control of NGOs, therefore a careful approach should be applied in considering an introduction of the obligation for NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and their internal structures in national lobby registries;

Amendment 139 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 m (new)

7 m. Appreciates that the Commission enhances the access status for the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in order to obtain information on the financial misconduct of individual NGOs, investigate them and impose appropriate sanctions in the event of fraud, corruption and other irregularities related to EU funds in compliance with the applicable regulations;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Recital H (new)

H. Whereas several state and civil actors have been raising the alarm of third country influence on EU institutions, policies and policy makers and calling for effective legislation on a number of areas to counter this threat for more than a decade;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Recital I (new)

I. Whereas in recent years the disclosed covert interference in referendums and elections, cyber-attacks on candidates, parties, journalists, activists and the fabrication of false narratives, combined with the increased use of social media to sow distrust and nurture discontent, led to initiatives aiming at reaching complete transparency of interest representatives and their financial capabilities at an EU level and in Member States, which also targets NGOs, including the current Transparency Register;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Recital J (new)

J. Whereas the deplorable events related to the corruption cases referred to as “Qatargate” and "Moroccogate” exacerbated a general public outcry against NGOs due to the involvement of certain NGOs in the scandals;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Recital K (new)

K. Whereas, some governments tend to use these accusations and general distrust as a good pretext for restrictions against NGOs, and, as a result, restrictions of civic space have been reported by NGOs throughout the Union, related to the regulatory environment under which they operate and to (changes in) legislation that affect their work, finances and funding, and their right to participation with increasing difficulties in accessing decision-makers and contributing to policymaking and legislation;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Recital L (new)

L. Whereas these restrictions usually target partly or wholly foreign funded NGOs, treating under the same umbrella those receiving funding from the United States, the United Kingdom or Switzerland and those receiving funding from Russia or China, causing them to face an unsafe environment with increasingly worrying attacks and harassment, including legislation and negative discourse aimed at delegitimising and stigmatising NGOs, especially in Member States with ongoing Rule of Law issues, where foreign funded NGOs are often the only ones with sufficient financial independence to be a critical voice;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Recital M (new)

M. Whereas at the international level restrictive legislation and negative discourse may bring about the risk of reciprocity, thus preventing the EU from criticising attempts by third countries to clamp down on pro-democracy organisations and activists, since NGOs in third countries receiving EU funds would be specifically targeted by third country governments, which is particularly worrisome taken into account the activities which these NGOs carry out in these third countries where democracy and rule of law is flawed;

Amendment 2 #

Annika BRUNA, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Patricia CHAGNON

Draft opinion
Recital A (new)

A. Whereas non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which hereby refers to grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and all non-profit making civil society organisations (CSOs) independent of public institutions and commercial interests, are the backbone of civil space, the legal and political framework in which people and groups can meaningfully participate in the political, economic, social and cultural life of their societies, exercising the right to express views, the right to information, and the right to assemble, associate and engage in dialogue with one another and with authorities;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role played by grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in promoting and upholding democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring accountability for state and private actions;deleted

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role played by ~~grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and~~ non- governmental organisations (NGOs) ~~in promoting and upholding democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring accountability for state and private actions~~;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role ~~played by grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and~~that non- governmental organisations (NGOs) ~~in promoting and uphold~~play ing democra~~cy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring accountability for state and private actions~~tic system;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role played by ~~grass~~NGOs in promotsing and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in promoting and upholding democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring accountability for state and private acupholding democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights, in ensuring accountability for state and private actions as well as in developing social economy by providing societal benefits for the most vulnerable groups, including women, LGBTIQ+ persons, persons with disabilities, minorities, migrants and refugees, thus strengthening the single market and the wellbeing of the populations;

Amendment 24 #

Amendment 25 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role played by civil society, grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in promoting and upholding democracytic values, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring ~~accountability for~~civic participation and accountability of governments, as well as state and private act~~ion~~ors;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role ~~played by grassroots and community~~of transparency and control played by the European Parliament over funds allocated to organiszations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and non- governmental organiszations (NGOs) ~~in promoting and upholding democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring accountability for state and private actions~~;

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the crucial role played by civil society, which comprises, inter alia, grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist groups, human rights defenders and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in promoting and upholding democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights and in ensuring accountability for state and private actions;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Stresses that, in order to prevent and combat fraud and to ensure that EU funds are not used contrary to EU values or used to negatively impact the security of Member States, transparency and public accountability requirements should be strengthened;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Stresses that public transparency and accountability of NGOs must be ensured especially when EU tax payer’s money is spent; further emphasises that through scrutiny is indispensable to protect democracy;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Recital B (new)

B. Whereas NGOs play a central role in democracy by exercising public oversight over political power as an essential component of a rule of law ecosystem of healthy democracies, articulating and relaying to policy makers the aspirations and interests present in society, engaging in advocacy and litigations, contributing to informed policy-making with their expertise and knowledge of what goes on at the ground and fostering active and responsible citizenship, thus promoting active public participation in the democratic process and governance, increasing transparency at Union and Member State level, and fostering public debate and pluralism in society;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. Reminds the Commission to guarantee that no Union funds are allocated to organizations (Union or international), third parties, and/or natural persons linked to any cause or form of terrorism and/or radicalization;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; ~~notes that while NGOs are, on the on~~stresses therefore thand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlookt funding, private and public, national and foreign, must be made public in order to guarantee the transparency of their actions and avoid foreign interference;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs~~; notes~~ and takes in grassroots and community organisations, trade unions, activist movements and many others; notes that NGO is typically shorthand for a form of organisation in which salaired professionals undertake civil society work; notes further that while NGOs are, on the one hand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; notes that while NGOs are, on the one hand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interestsRecalls that the Treaties requires the EU institutions and EU Member States to maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook importance for EU Members States and EU institutions to provide adequate funding to programmes aimed protecting and promoting rights and values enshrined in the EU Treaties; recognises the role NGOs and CSOs play in implementing these programmes;

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; notes that while NGOs are, on the one hand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook and considers it regretful that the Commission still has not put forward a legislative package creating a definition of common standards for NGOs which would enable coherent judicial review at Union level and lay down the foundations for potential future case law strengthening Union-wide standards and protecting fundamental rights which are an essential part of Union law;

Amendment 37 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Annika BRUNA, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that ~~civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; notes that while NGOs are,~~NGOs must provide annual detailed assesement onf the onprovenance hand~~, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumental~~ use of all their funds; details of all mission to which European funds have been allocated shall mention any participating organisations and ~~expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; note~~their contribution highlighting be able to give details of the missions to which European Union funds tha~~t it is short-sigh~~ve been allocated; tohe tr~~eat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook~~aceability of funds must be given without suffering significant delays between request and receipt;

Amendment 38 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs~~; notes that while NGOs are, on the one hand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal sta~~, comprising a variety of not-for-profit, voluntary organisations and entities that embody, promote, and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlookrepresent common societal interests; notes that NGOs play a key role in enabling citizens’ access to civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision and access to adequate public funding at all levels, including foreign funding; acknowledges the diversity of NGOs as regards their size, resources and staff;

Amendment 39 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; notes that ~~while~~ NGOs are, on the one hand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook at risk of instrumentalisation by malign state and non-state actors; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding providing they respect European values and are subject to scrutiny, due diligence and transparency rules; whereas such requirements are key to trace foreign interference but should not stigmatise legitimate foreign funding;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital A (new)

A. Whereas civil society organisations play a crucial role in promoting and defending the rights and values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union (TFEU), and the fundamental rights under the EU Charter of fundamental rights both at European and at national level;

Amendment 40 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; notes that while ~~NGOs are, on the one hand, a favoured institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many~~some NGOs could be used and misused for ilegitimate intrests by state and non-state actors, many of them resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreign funding, as long as the transparency of funding principle is upheld; notes that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook;

Amendment 41 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Stresses that civil society is a broader category than that of NGOs; notes that ~~while NGOs are, on the one hand, a favou~~civil society organisations ared institutional form of the neoliberal state and therefore rarely truly oppositional, on the other hand many resist instrumentalisation and expose the excesses of state and private interests; stresses, therefore, that they must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including foreignmportant component of democratic life in the EU and as such, they should be supported with necessary funding from the EU budget; notes that organisations often need to rely also on foreign funding and they should not be stigmatised for using such fund~~ing~~s; notes that ~~it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook~~NGOs work in diverse policy areas and they activities vary from one another, thus they should not be perceived as a singular sector;

Amendment 42 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Emphasizes that the term NGO is a wide umbrella term under which many different kinds of organisations may fall: from large international organisations to small regional or local organisations, from organisations run mostly by professionals to organisations consisting mostly of volunteers; highlights that the subject matter covered by NGOs and the method of implementation can also vary substantially, for instance, some work of NGOs may vary from being highly theoretical (for example the work of some think-tanks), or political (for example politically affiliated NGOs) to being highly hands on (for example the daily work that firefighting NGOs engage in across Europe); emphasizes that therefore, a differentiation between different types of NGOs should be made when analysing levels of transparency and efficiency, and that a better definition of NGOs should be established at the EU level;

Amendment 43 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Welcomes the Commission’s new awareness, which led to the cessation of EU funding and the recovery of funds paid to organisations whose actions were contrary to EU values; calls on the Commission to continue its efforts to ensure that EU funds do not finance any entity that do not respect EU values, as set out in Article 2 TEU, in a context of intolerable interference against our democracies by foreign state or non-state actors through NGOs;

Amendment 44 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Emphasises that the historical development of the NGO sector in post- Soviet states in Eastern Europe and its development in Western Europe are quite distinct, and emphasises that it is essential to recognise that sensitivity must be deployed in addressing issues regarding NGOs in different parts of Europe;

Amendment 45 #

2 b. Reiterates the call for a common NGO definition in the recommendations from the 2021 Commission discharge resolution; calls for a common NGO definition at EU level, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding; is of the opinion that this definition should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO; considers that such minimum conditions must include the form of an organisation, the objectives it pursues, its level of formal or institutional existence, the accountability of its structures to its members or donors, its level of independence from the government, other public authorities, political parties or commercial organisations, and its commercial or professional objectives on behalf of its members

Amendment 46 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)

2 c. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution to set up an NGO regulation by 1 June 2024 that includes harmonised minimum requirements for NGOs across all EU entities and a clear definition and categorisation of the fields of activity and size of NGOs and that provides for the necessary conditions for NGOs to receive EU funds; insists that there should be a clear distinction between regular NGOs and ‘public utility NGOs’; calls on the Commission to establish simplified procedures for small NGOs;

Amendment 47 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)

2 d. Calls on the Commission to ensure that, when preparing its proposal for the NGO regulation, important questions on issues relating but not limited to clear definitions, revolving doors, transparency in financing and donations, the fight against money laundering, limiting foreign interference, independence from political and economic influence, whistleblowing, and transparency in actual leadership and ownership are dealt with in a sufficiently transparent manner;

Amendment 48 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)

2 e. Is concerned about cases of fraud and irregularities, notably in situations where NGOs that are members of different international networks or platforms in receipt of EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interests, double funding, corruption or money laundering; is concerned about the lack of data publicly available on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a list of NGOs that have broken the law;

Amendment 49 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in Member States, as well as increasing crackdowns and repression of political speech and action at all levels across the EU; strongly denounces that such threats and attacks include actions both against organisations and their infrastructure and against their staff or volunteers, online and offline intimidation and harassment, negative public statements and smear campaigns, verbal threats, and legal and physical attacks; stresses that some NGOs also face excessive administrative controls or audits, politically motivated funding cuts and overly strict legal requirements for their formation and registration;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Recital B (new)

B. Whereas Article 63 TFEU together with Articles 7, 8 and 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the 'Charter') enshrines the freedom of association at all levels and protects non-profit organisations against discriminatory, unnecessary and unjustified restrictions regarding the financing of their activities; whereas the freedom of association is one of the essential bases of a democratic and pluralist society, as it allows citizens to act collectively in fields of mutual interest and to contribute to the proper functioning of public life; whereas freedom of association does not only include the ability to create or dissolve an association but also the ability for that association to operate without unjustified interference by the state; whereas the ability to seek, secure and use resources is essential to the operation of any association;

Amendment 50 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in Member States and at European level, particularly by attempts to restrict NGO’s access to funding by imposing disproportionate administrative burdens on them, imposing negative labels on foreign-funded associations or conducting negative campaigns against civil society organisations receiving foreign funding;

Amendment 51 #

Annika BRUNA, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Patricia CHAGNON

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in Member Stat~~Highlights that it is short-sighted to treat NGOs as a singular bloc with a singular policy outlook, given that civil society spans from low-key community activities, such as sports clubs, church groups, to large NGOs that provide key services to high-profile advocacy and litigation organizations that speak out on certain issues;

Amendment 52 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by th~~reats to and attacks on NGOs in~~e lack of transparency in the financing of NGOs; recalls that well-known NGOs have been financed by States to exert pressure against French nuclear power or to oppose policies pursued by democratically elected Member States;

Amendment 53 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in some Member States, including by proposing and adopting legislation that imposes discriminatory obligations on NGOs, stigmatises, restricts or even bans their activities;

Amendment 54 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned ~~by threats to and attacks on NGOs in Member States~~that the European Commission has left the doors wide open to non-transparent NGOs and has given millions of European taxpayers’ money to them without demanding even the minimum levels of transparency;

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by th~~reats to and attacks on NGOs in Member State~~e lack of transparency of European funds sent and more particularly those intended for Palestine and their final recipients;

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in Member States as well as EU-funded NGOs in third countries;

Amendment 57 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and unjustified attacks on NGOs in Member States;

Amendment 58 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in some Member States;

Amendment 59 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in some Member States;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Recital C (new)

C. Whereas NGOs are particularly active in bringing societal benefits with respect to citizen welfare, education, health, the fight against climate change, fight against social exclusion and discrimination, including the protection of women, LGBTIQ+ persons, persons with disabilities, minorities, migrants and refugees;

Amendment 60 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Remains ~~deeply~~ concerned by threats to and attacks on NGOs in some Member States;

Amendment 61 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Welcomes the establishment of Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme for the period 2021- 2027, which provides a direct funding to civil society organisations from the EU budget; recalls European Parliament’s role in securing an increased budget for the programme in the MFF 2021-2027 negotiations with the Council of the EU and the European Commission; calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the budget for the programme is increased in the next Multiannual Financial Framework to account for inflation and the need to support civil society organisations in building a resilient and participatory democracy;

Amendment 62 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Is deeply concerned that access to funding, including foreign funding, continues to be hindered by restrictive rules in several Member States, such as burdensome application and selection procedures regarding EU funds under shared management, attempts to introduce rules penalising NGOs, rules on political advertising and foreign interference in elections that affect advocacy and watchdog activities, and funding conditionality requirements and transparency laws that are perceived as stigmatising;

Amendment 63 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Points out that the Brussels corruption scandal highlighted how NGOs that function in a completely non- transparent manner have received considerable amounts of EU money in the past years; points out that the NGO ‘No Peace Without Justice’, which is one of the NGOs in the middle of the Brussels corruption scandal, has received millions of euros from the European Commission;

Amendment 64 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Calls on the Commission to make tender procedures in the CERV programme transparent, user-friendly and avoid overly complicated requirements that are difficult to fulfil for civil society organisations, as well as to ensure the necessary flexibility in the process of re- granting the funds to local and grassroots organisations by operators in member states in order to ensure that the money reaches those working closest to the citizen and that money can be redirected to different actions when justified by changing circumstances; recalls that any reporting obligations must be proportionate and feasible for the organisation to fulfil, taking into account its size and the level of funds; stresses that reporting obligations and transparency should be in place to ensure that the EU money is well spent while avoiding unnecessary burdens on organisations;

Amendment 65 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Recalls that civil society actors at all levels need appropriate and sufficient human, material and financial resources to carry out their missions effectively and that the freedom to seek, receive and use such resources is an integral part of the right to freedom of association;

Amendment 66 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights; calls on the Member States and the EU to ensure that access to funding and other resources for NGOs are made through clear, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures, and without undue impediments;

Amendment 67 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

Amendment 68 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and be fully compliant with fundamental rights in accordance with case law of the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the recommendations of the Venice Commission;

Amendment 69 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human RightsNGOs, in order to ensure their transparency, including in their funding, and accountability;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Recital D (new)

D. Whereas in certain Member States it is becoming more and more common that public authorities are outsourcing to NGOs public service missions in domains such as housing, health, education and asylum, which goes beyond a balanced cooperation of public authorities with NGOs that have a good experience working with and for the persons concerned and is not supported by sufficient additional resources;

Amendment 70 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the ~~Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources~~Commission and the Member States that NGOs must be protected, including through the provision of adequate funding, including EU and foreign ~~resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights~~funding; by facilitating NGOs’ access to such funding;

Amendment 71 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources,Recalls that any measure restricting the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights;

Amendment 72 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, as long as the transparency of funding principle is respected, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights;

Amendment 73 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and the EU to improve the legal environment for civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of associations to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2) of the European Convention on Human RightsNGO is obliged to make public its private and public, national and foreign funding, in order to guarantee the transparency of their actions and avoid foreign interference;

Amendment 74 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Member States and ~~the EU~~particularly the European Union to improve the legal environment for ~~civil society by ensuring that any measure restricting the right of ass~~the transparency of funds allociat~~ions to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign resources, must pursue one of the legitimate aims under Article 11(2)~~ed to NGOs or any other organization claiming to be part of civil society, and to strengthen parliamentary controls ofn the ~~European Convention on Human Right~~allocation of these funds;

Amendment 75 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Is deeply concerned of limited, unsystematic disclosure of other sources of funding of NGOs at project or organisational levels; urges for revision of transparency provisions to ensure the systematic publication by EU-funded NGOs of details of funding received from the EU and other sources; recalls the risks of foreign interference in the EU; urges to introduce a common transparency and accountability standards;

Amendment 76 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Calls on the Commission to facilitate better access for NGOs to EU funding, particularly by facilitating better support for applicants and by increasing its efforts for innovative approaches such as financial support to third parties (CSOs) by intermediaries as well as increased institutional funding for organisations;

Amendment 77 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Expresses its concern that foreign states exercise illegitimate influence in Europe through the funding of NGOs, calls for new rules to prevent NGOs from being used by foreign actors;

Amendment 78 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Emphasizes that Member States should have effective legal measures to control associations if their activities violate EU values or the national law;

Amendment 79 #

Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Is deeply concerned that the managing authorities and the Commission do not maintain a list of projects awarded grants for 2020 or 2021 despite the explicit requirement in the Common Provisions Regulation to create a list of operations selected for support by the funds publicly available on the website in at least one of the official languages of the institutions of the Union and to update that list at least every four months;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Recital C (new)

C. Whereas the Court of Justice confirmed in its judgment in Case C- 78/18 Commission v Hungary that the obligations of declaration and publicity may, in certain circumstances, be liable to limit the capacity of civil society organisations to receive financial support or to have a deterrent effect on the participation of donors;

Amendment 80 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Considers that it would be useful to have consistent data from the Commission on the extent and effectiveness to which different EU programmes support NGOs to enable civic space and participation to bolster democratic resilience from within, as part of their evaluation;

Amendment 81 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures ~~must only serve the purpose of~~are important in ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that to this end reporting requirements for NGOs ~~must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued~~should be strictly necessary and proportionate; calls for any new EU measures in this area to be led by those principles; reminds that imposing obligations of registration, declaration and publication on certain categories of civil society organisations directly or indirectly receiving support from abroad must be in line with principles of non- discrimination, the free movement of capital the right to respect for private and family life, the right to the protection of personal data and the right to freedom of association, as stated by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the in Case C-78/18 (Commission v Hungary);

Amendment 82 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; ~~stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued~~recalls that international standards on freedom of association require authorities to apply a presumption in favour of CSOs' liberty to seek and receive funding from any source; stresses therefore that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued; believes that any difference in treatment among civil society organisations concerning the reporting or public disclosure obligations on their funding, should be justified on the basis of objective and reasonable grounds;

Amendment 83 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must be necessary, proportionate, justified, and therefore only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; they furthermore must be applied to all beneficiaries of EU funding indiscriminately; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued; insists that any additional reporting obligations should not be unnecessarily burdensome and should take into account the resources, size, and staff available to an organisation and the scope of its activities;

Amendment 84 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stres~~Stresses the necessity of approaching with caution the different transparency requirements that should be placed on NGOs to which grants are awarded directly by the Commission or European Union executive agencies under direct management, as well as on thoses t~~hat reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued~~o which grants are awarded under indirect management by intermediate bodies such as Member State agencies and United Nations (UN) agencies receiving EU grants transferred to them by the Commission;

Amendment 85 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures ~~must only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued~~also should cover NGOs ;

Amendment 86 #

Patricia CHAGNON, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Philippe OLIVIER, Eric MINARDI, France JAMET

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Recalls that~~Underlines the need to make as transparencyt and accountability measures must only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursuedessible as possible to the public the available information on all beneficiaries, including NGOs, of EU funds; underlines that scrutiny, due diligence and transparency rules, in particular with regard to financing, should foreseen proportional criteria and non-cumbersome procedures, in particular for small NGOs;

Amendment 87 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must ~~only serve the purpose of~~aim to ensur~~ing~~e legitimate public scrutiny~~; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued;~~ , and that to this end MEPs must be able to consult a database updated regularly, specifying the amounts and recipients, particularly regarding NGOs, of funds allocated by the European Union;

Amendment 88 #

Annika BRUNA, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Patricia CHAGNON

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must only serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must remain ~~strictly necessary and~~ proportionate to the specific aims pursued and non-cumbersome, in particular for small NGOs;

Amendment 89 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must ~~only~~ serve t~~he purpose of~~o ensur~~ing~~e legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that reporting requirements ~~for~~imposed on NGOs must ~~remain~~be strict~~ly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued~~ enough to prevent foreign powers from interfering in the policies pursued by Member States;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Recital D (new)

D. Whereas the Venice Commission has indicated in its Report on funding of associations that some public disclosure obligations can be imposed on associations with “public utility status”, but those obligations should be limited to information on how the public funds obtained by the association concerned are spent; the disclosure obligations should not be extended to all financing, including from private donors; all reporting should be subject to a duty to respect the rights of donors, beneficiaries and staff, as well as the right to protect business confidentiality; whereas international standards on freedom of association require that no restrictions may be placed on its exercise other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others;

Amendment 90 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must ~~only~~ serve the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny on the way EU taxpayer’s money is spent; stresses that reporting requirements for NGOs must ~~remain strictly necessary and~~be proportionate to the specific aims pursued;

Amendment 91 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Regrets that a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs in multiple Member States to promote false narratives, including through disinformation, in order to apparently influence EU policy through different actors, as happened in Qatargate; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the democratic principles and values of the EU; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through NGOs; calls on the Commission to require NGOs in receipt of EU grants to publish details on any funding received from other sources in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five-year period;

Amendment 92 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Reminds of the need to focus on the accountability and transparency of the budget, its use and implementation by the beneficiaries, including NGOs, rather than on measures regarding their organisation and governance; warns against introducing further requirements for NGOs as compared to other beneficiaries;

Amendment 93 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5 b. Criticises the situations in which substantial co-funding is awarded from the EU budget to NGOs that are clearly and predominantly financed by non-EU states, networks or foundations and that deliver research that regularly negatively impacts European industry and transport providers; urges the Commission to trace the flow of funds from the first donor in order to prevent damage to the EU economy;

Amendment 94 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)

5 c. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the Transparency Register; calls for a transparency officer to be placed in all committee secretariats and relevant administrative units; recalls that, according to the Transparency Register Guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of EU-funded NGOs should be also recorded in the Transparency Register;

Amendment 95 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

~~6. Believes that current EU instruments are likely sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding;~~deleted

Amendment 96 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

~~6. Believes that current EU instruments are likely sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding;~~deleted

Amendment 97 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. BWel~~iev~~comes th~~at current EU instruments are likely sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding~~e European Parliament's decision of 13 September 2023 amending Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability; calls all EU institutions for far stricter implementation, enforcement and supervision of adherence to the current provisions on the EU Transparency Register; insists that the EU Transparency Register should be strengthened by increasing its budget and its staff so that it is able to offer support to all applicants and registrants, especially small entities and NGOs, throughout the registration process and to verify the information they provided more thoroughly;

Amendment 98 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Believes that current EU instruments are ~~likely~~ sufficient for achieving proportionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding; calls, however, on the Commission to step up its work for streamlining databases and on increasing user-friendliness of the Financial Transparency System (FTS); stresses that, within the FTS, all types and subtypes of beneficiaries, including for-profit organisations, should be searchable as a category in the register, rather than providing distinct categories just for NGOs or non-profits;

Amendment 99 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. ~~Believ~~Stresses that ~~current EU instruments are likely su~~introducing uniform legislation aiming at making more diffic~~ien~~ult for ~~achiev~~NGOs in general to receive funding pfro~~portionate transparency goals concerning NGO funding~~m the EU in the hope that it will increase transparency and accountability, contribute to minimizing third-country influence and protecting sovereignty not only goes against established international conventions and commitments, but such generalised measures will not reach their goals either;

source: 754.918

2023/11/15 CONT 308 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1

– having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Articles 2, 3 ~~and 11(~~, 5, 11(2) and Protocol (No 2) thereof,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas in line with the principle of subsidiarity only the funds directly awarded to NGOs have been subject to monitoring and reporting by the Commission ~~so far~~;

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. ~~Reiterates the call for a common definition of an NGO made in the recommendations from the 2021 Commission discharge resolution13 ;~~Despite this complexity reiterates the calls for a common definition of an NGO at EU level, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding; is of the opinion that this definition should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO; considers that such minimum conditions must include the form of an organisation, the objectives it pursues, its level of formal or institutional existenceNGOs that should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO such as the form of an organisation, the accountability of its structures ~~to its members or donors~~, its level of independence from government, other public authorities, political parties or commercial organisations, and the commercial or professional objectives it pursues on behalf of its members; _________________ 13 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137.

Amendment 101 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Reiterates the call for a common definition of an NGO made in the recommendations from the 2021 Commission discharge resolution13; calls for a ~~common~~suitable definition of an NGO at EU level~~, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding~~ based on clear, measurable and transparent criteria, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding, which will enable NGOs to be easily and unequivocally identified and better regulated and the rules on their funding and use to be enforced; is of the opinion that this definition should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO; considers that such minimum conditions must include the form of an organisation, the objectives it pursues, its level of formal or institutional existence, the accountability of its structures to its members or donors, its level of independence from government, other public authorities, political parties or commercial organisations, and the commercial or professional objectives it pursues on behalf of its members; indicates that, in view of the suggested differentiation and simplification of control, reporting and procedural requirements for small NGOs, it may be necessary to draw a distinction and adopt a separate definition that would encompass the criteria that must be met for an organisation to be classified as small; _________________ 13 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137.

Amendment 102 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Reiterates the call for a common definition of an NGO made in the recommendations from the 2021 Commission discharge resolution13; calls for a common definition of an NGO at EU level, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding; is of the opinion that this definition should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO by means of an evaluation study project that involves Member State officials and NGO representatives with a view to studying potential prospects for a common definition of an NGO; considers that such minimum conditions must include the form of an organisation, the objectives it pursues, its level of formal or institutional existence, the accountability of its structures to its members or donors, its level of independence from government, other public authorities, political parties or commercial organisations, and the commercial or professional objectives it pursues on behalf of its members; suggests that the Commission follow a similar methodology to that followed to define the term 'SME', by means of an evaluation study that involves Member State officials and NGO representatives. _________________ 13 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137.

Amendment 103 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Reiterates the call for a common definition of an NGO made in the recommendations from the 2021 Commission discharge resolution13 ; calls for a common definition of an NGO at EU level, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding; is of the opinion that this definition should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO; considers that such minimum conditions must include the form of an organisation, the objectives it pursues, its level of formal or institutional existence, the accountability of its structures to its members or donors, its level of independence from government, other public authorities, political parties or commercial organisations, and the commercial or professional objectives it pursues on behalf of its members; believes that the proposed definition in the Commission’s proposal for the Financial Regulation does not provide minimum adequate conditions; _________________ 13 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137.

Amendment 104 #

14. Highlights the advantages of establishing a common definition for EU engagement with NGOs, encompassing direct deliberative, political and financial interactions; acknowledges the advantage of enabling a common understanding of what these partners are in relation to the EU and its bodies in different contexts, beyond the question of financial support; believes that the added value of a common EU-wide definition lies in increased transparency, accountability and predictability for EU institutions, the Member States, NGOs and EU taxpayers;deleted

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Highlights the advantages of establishing a common definition for EU engagement with NGOs, encompassing direct deliberative, political and financial interactions; acknowledges the advantage of enabling a common understanding of what these partners are in relation to the EU and its bodies in different contexts, beyond the question of financial support; believes that the added value of a common EU-wide definition lies inat establishing the above mentioned common harmonised definition can be an element of increased transparency, accountability and predictability for EU institutions, the Member States, NGOs and EU taxpayers;

Amendment 106 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Highlights the advantages of establishing a common definition for EU engagement with NGOs, encompassing direct deliberative, political and financial interactions; acknowledges the advantage of enabling a common understanding of what these partners are in relation to the EU and its bodies in different contexts, beyond the question of financial support; believes that the added value of a common EU-wide definitionwhose added value lies in increased transparency, accountability and predictability ~~for EU institutions, the Member States, NGOs and EU taxpayers;~~

Amendment 107 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. HRegrets the difficulty but highlights the advantages of establishing a ~~common definition for~~harmonised EU-wide approach for defining EU engagement with NGOs and entities, encompassing direct deliberative, political and financial interactions; acknowledges the advantage of enabling a common understanding of what these partners are in relation to the EU and its bodies in different contexts, beyond the question of financial support, in favour of public trust; believes that the added value of a common EU-wide ~~definition~~approach lies in increased transparency, accountability and predictability for EU institutions, the Member States, NGOs and EU ~~taxpayers;~~ citizens; encourages the co-legislators to work towards harmonisation allowing for better budgetary control;

Amendment 108 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Highlights the advantages of establishing a common definition for EU engagement with NGOs, including NGOs from third countries, encompassing direct deliberative, political and financial interactions; acknowledges the advantage of enabling a common understanding of what these partners are in relation to the EU and its bodies in different contexts, beyond the question of financial support; believes that the added value of a common EU-wide definition lies in increased transparency, accountability and predictability for EU institutions, the Member States, NGOs and EU taxpayers;

Amendment 109 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas civil society spans from low-key community activities to large NGOs; whereas the latter play a key role in representing citizens and in implementing the EU budget; whereas public authorities are increasingly outsourcing to NGOs and entities; whereas the Commission manages EU funds directly, indirectly or in a shared way, and that unfortunately only the funds directly awarded to NGOs and entities have been subject to monitoring and reporting by the Commission so far;

Amendment 110 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that the ~~spectrum of NGOs receiving EU funding covers a wide range of structures, ways of fu~~Commission uses the terms NGOs and NFPOs without a clear distinction in~~g, sources of financing and focus areas, which translate~~ the FTS; regrets that this results into a variety of projects that are financed with taxpayers’ money; notes that the Commission uses the terms NGOs and NFPOs without a clear definition in the FTS; regrets that this results in a lack of public transparency in the allocationsort of confusion in the allocation and monitoring of EU funds; notes that the FTS FAQ provides a definition for NGOs whose non profit- status is an essential element and is subject to validation. regrets that the this non clear distinctions is possible because up to now no common definition of NGOs was applied and mon~~itoring of EU funds and might lead to a lack of public trust;~~ly self classification of entities are used for the FTS which are based only on rules which may vary among Member States

Amendment 111 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that the spectrum of NGOs and entities receiving EU funding covers a wide range of structures, ways of functioning, sources of financing and focus areas, which translates into a variety of projects that are financed ~~with taxpayers’ money~~by EU funds; notes that the Commission uses the terms NGOs and NFPOs without a clear definition in the FTS; ~~regrets that this results in a lack of public transparency in the allocation and monitoring of EU funds and might lead to a lack of public trust;~~

Amendment 112 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that the spectrum of NGOs receiving EU funding covers a wide range of structures, ways of functioning, sources of financing and focus areas~~, which translates into a variety of projects that are financed with taxpayers’ money~~; notes that the Commission uses the terms NGOs and NFPOs without a clear definition and distinction in the FTS; regrets that this results in a lack of public transparency in the allocation and monitoring of EU funds ~~and might lead to a lack of public trust~~, as well as policy planning and might lead to a misperception of the volume of funding for NGOs;

Amendment 113 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that the spectrum of NGOs ~~receiving EU funding~~ covers a wide range of structures, ways of functioning, sources of financing and focus areas, which translates into a variety of projects ~~that are financed with taxpayers’ money~~; notes that the Commission uses the terms NGOs and NFPOs without a clear definition in the FTS; regrets that all this can sometimes results in a lack of ~~public~~ transparency in the allocation and monitoring of EU funds and might lead to a ~~lack of public trust;~~ misperception of the volume of funding for NGOs; Suggests introducing distinction for nonprofit entities such as foundations, universities, professional organisations1a; _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe.

Amendment 114 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Notes that the spectrum of NGOs receiving EU funding covers a wide range of structures, ways of functioning, sources of financing and focus areas, which translates into a variety of projects that are financed with taxpayers’ money; notes that the Commission uses the terms NGOs and NFPOs without a clear definition in the FTS; regrets that this results in a lack of public transparency in the allocation and monitoring of EU funds and might lead to a lack of public trust; further calls for the FTS to ensure a proper categorisation of the various types of NGOs or NFPOs in order to avoid situations in which there is little or no differentiation between certain types of organisations and whereby universities, research institutes, voluntary organisations, and other NGOs are considered identical in the FTS database;

Amendment 115 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. In this context of complexity and diversity welcomes even more the Commission proposal to include a common definition of NGOs in the recast to the Financial Regulation, as well as the EP mandate which further clarifies the conditions for transparency and accountability;

Amendment 116 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3

~~Control and monitoring~~Towards better EU Transparency and accountability of EU funds

Amendment 117 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Stresses that reporting obligations and transparency should be in place to ensure that EU money is well spent while avoiding unnecessary burdens on organisations; Believes that current EU legislation on scrutiny, due diligence and transparency is likely sufficient with minor adjustments, which should apply to all beneficiaries of EU funds, and could, inter alia, address the concerns expressed by the European Court of Auditors, for achieving proportionate transparency goals ; Emphasises that the overlap of additional reporting/public disclosure obligations with other already existing measures under the pretext of concern about corruption and foreign interference should be avoided in order not to create an environment of excessive state monitoring;

Amendment 118 #

Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

Amendment 119 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas the Treaties require the EU institutions and EU Member States to maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society; stresses the importance for EU Members States and EU institutions to provide adequate funding to programmes aimed protecting and promoting rights and values enshrined in the EU Treaties; recognises the role NGOs and CSOs play in implementing these programmes;

Amendment 120 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is concerned about cases of fraud and irregularities, notably in situations where NGOs that are members of different international networks or platforms that receive EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering; is concerned about the lack of publicly available data on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a list of NGOs that have broken the lawConsiders that fraud, conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering should be avoided in all situations and for all the recipeints irrespective of their nature;

Amendment 121 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is concerned about possible cases of fraud and irregularities, double funding, corruption or money laundering and conflicts of interest, notably in situations where ~~NGOs that~~beneficiaries of EU funds are members of different international networks or platforms that also receive EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering; is concerned about the lack of publicly available data on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a list of NGOs that have broken the law; calls on the Commission to make Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) fully operational to allow for an efficient exclusion of all EU funds beneficiaries in breach of the EU Financial Regulation, from the further access to EU public funds;

Amendment 122 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is concerned about cases of fraud and irregularities, notably in situations where NGOs that are members of different international networks or platforms that receive EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering; is concerned about the lack of publicly available data on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a ~~list of NGOs that have broken the law~~n impact study on the consequences of fraud cases involving NGOs;

Amendment 123 #

Dominique BILDE, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Joachim KUHS, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is concerned about cases of fraud and irregularities, notably in situations where NGOs that are members of different international networks or platforms that receive EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering; is concerned about the lack of publicly available data on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a list of NGOs that have broken the law; insists for the scope of the anti-money laundering directive to be broadened to also apply to NGOs;

Amendment 124 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is concerned about cases of fraud and irregularities, notably in situations where NGOs that are members of different international networks or platforms that receive EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering; is concerned about the lack of publicly available data on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a list of NGOs that have broken the law; calls on the Commission temporarily ban NGOs from applying to EU funding in case of serious infringements of existing rules related to fraud, double funding, corruption, money laundering or conflict of interest or to potentially permanently exclude them from applying for EU funding in case of repeated offences;

Amendment 125 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Is concerned about cases of fraud and irregularities, notably in situations where NGOs that are members of different international networks or platforms that receive EU funding are at risk of conflicts of interest, double funding, corruption or money laundering, and in particular where they are involved in such violations; stresses that, in order to prevent fraud, intensify the fight against violations such as corruption, fraud and embezzlement, and better safeguard EU funds, the requirements for transparency and public accountability applicable to NGOs must be strengthened; is concerned about the lack of publicly available data on the fraud cases involving NGOs; calls on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to compile and provide such data to Parliament and the ECA and to draw up a list of NGOs that have broken the law;

Amendment 126 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a. Reminds that NGOs as all other entities applying to EU funding are subjects to quite strict rules; underlines that EDES is an important instrument to protect the Union’s financial interests, ensuring a multi level protection through the early detection of persons or entities representing risks threatening the Union's financial interests; the possible exclusion of persons or entities from participating in award procedures or from being selected for implementing Union funds; the imposition of a financial penalty and finally the publication, in the most severe cases, on the Commission's internet site of information related to the exclusion and where applicable the financial penalty, in order to reinforce their deterrent effect; highlights that the Commission proposal for the Financial Regulation recast included the extension of application of EDES to include incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence;

Amendment 127 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Is concerned that public transparency requirements can be circumvented, especially when money is passed along a chain and used to fulfil the purposes of other donors; highlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed among NGOs, on what basis or for what purpose; considers this highly problematic, as large amounts of funding are committed through indirect and shared management; calls on the Commission to verify the re-allocation of funds and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting and publication requirements in line with annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment fundHighlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed among NGOs;

Amendment 128 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Is concerned that public transparency requirements can be ~~circumv~~insuficiented, especially when money is passed along a chain and used to fulfil the purposes of other donors; highlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed among NGOs, on what basis or for what purpose; considers this highly problematic, as large amounts of funding are committed through indirect and shared management; calls on the Commission to verify the re-allocation of funds and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting and publication requirements in line with annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment fundco-fund joint projects with other donors;

Amendment 129 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. ~~Is concerned that public transparency requirements can be circumvented, especially whe~~Highlights that the FTS provides information monely is passed along a chain and used to fulfil the purposes of other donors; highlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed among NGOs, on what basis or for what purpose; considers this highly problematic, as large amounts of funding aabout grants under direct management, but no details on how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed; recalls that the EU, as the biggest donor to NGOs, imposes strict legal requirements to their financial re committed through indirect and shared management; calls on the Commission to verify the re-allocation of funds and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting and publication requirements in line with annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment fundsrds which sum up with the other donors requests for audited reports, as well as with the national financial accountabilities requirements creating a multi-layered system of reporting;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas the Commission’s Financial Transparency System (FTS) is the main source of publicly available data for large-scale analysis of grants and contracts managed directly by the Commission; whereas a clear distinction should be made between public transparency and transparency for the purpose of legitimate budgetary control given the sensitive contexts and issues NGOs work with;

Amendment 130 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. ~~Is concerned that public transparency requirements can be circumvented, especially when money is passed along a chain and used to fulfil the purposes of other donors; h~~Highlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under ~~indirect and~~ shared management is ~~distributed among NGOs, on what basis or for what purpo~~allocated, including to NGOs; Emphasizes that not all Member States provide the same level of information and there is no consistent and coherent EU data base ; considers this highly problematic, as large amounts of funding are committed through ~~indirect and~~ shared management; calls on the Commission to verify the re-allocation of funds and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting and publication requirements in line with annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment funds;

Amendment 131 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Is concerned that ~~public~~ transparency requirements can be circumvented, especially when ~~money is~~funds are passed along a chain and used to fulfil the purposes of other donors; highlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed among NGOs and entities, on what basis or for what purpose; considers this highly problematic, as large amounts of funding are committed through indirect and shared management; calls on the Commission to favour direct management and strengthen transparency and accountability in cases of shared and indirect management by verifying the re-allocation of funds and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting and publication requirements in line with the financial regulation and annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment funds;

Amendment 132 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Is concerned that public transparency requirements can be circumvented, especially when money is passed along a chain, under indirect management by intermediary institutions, and used to fulfil the purposes of other donors; highlights that the FTS does not provide any information about how EU funding sub-granted under indirect and shared management is distributed among NGOs, on what basis or for what purpose; considers this highly problematic, as large amounts of funding are committed through indirect and shared management; calls on the Commission to verify the re-allocation of funds and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting ~~and publ~~, publication and final beneficiary indication and identification requirements in line with annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment funds;

Amendment 133 #

Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Stresses that some politically committed non-governmental organisations receive funding both via the EU and at national level; emphasises that overlaps of this kind can lead to an uneven distribution of resources and give some operators an unfair advantage; considers it essential, therefore, that the EU Member States should develop harmonised and transparent practices for the allocation of funding; stresses that these practices must incorporate clear criteria and reporting requirements so as to ensure that funding is allocated fairly and that there is no overlap in funding; stresses that the Commission must play an active role in ensuring that this takes place by laying down strict reporting and publicity requirements that help identify and correct any abuses in connection with funding;

Amendment 134 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Highlights that the FTS does not provide information about how EU funding sub-granted under shared management is distributed down the line; considers the risk their actions might go against the rights and values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) or the fundamental rights under the EU Charter; calls on the Commission to verify the allocation of large amounts of funding committed through shared management and their use by the final beneficiary by imposing appropriate reporting and publication requirements in line with annual reporting by the Member States and the Commission on the implementation of the European structural and investment funds;

Amendment 135 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Call on the Commission to reinforce ex-ante control mechanisms proportionately, including adequate random checks and is of the opinion that severe weaknesses exist in the ex post control on the use of EU funds and urges the Commission in cooperation with Member States to produce an in-depth analysis with clear proposals to reinforce their quality, amount and regularity, supported by a well-established and centralised budgetary control task force within the Commission for all interest representatives, disposing of a clear mandate, investigation capabilities and resources;

Amendment 136 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Calls, on the Commission to step up its work on streamlining databases and on increasing user-friendliness of the Financial Transparency System (FTS) to improve transparency and accessibility; stresses that, within the FTS, all types and subtypes of beneficiaries, including for- profit organisations, should be searchable as a category in the register, rather than providing distinct categories just for NGOs or non-profits;

Amendment 137 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Considers that indirect managements is an important instrument to provide support to often small but important projects the Commission would not be able to handle directly; takes notes that the European Court of Auditors reported that the Commission generally reported data on humanitarian and development aid in accordance with international transparency standards

Amendment 138 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Emphasizes the importance of transparency and knowing the final recipient of EU taxpayer’s money and the importance of avoiding corruption and fraud in the use of EU funds by NGOs and the role that control and monitoring can play in contributing to these goals and the the fairness in distribution of funds;

Amendment 139 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

17 b. Recalls that circumvention of transparency and accountability requirements cannot be prevented or remedied by creating new, burdensome rules on transparency and accountability, such as setting up a single, interoperable IT system for data mining and risk scoring including recipients’ data and beneficial owners’ data, income, amount spent on lobbying, or conducting comprehensive financial pre-screening of NGOs before they are listed in the Transparency Register, or developing a centralised certification system for NGOs wishing to apply for EU funding, which create further legal and administrative obstacles and may hinder smaller NGOs from receiving EU or foreign funds; calls on the Commission to facilitate better support for applicants when accessing EU funding as well as increased institutional funding for organisations;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas an analysis of FTS data shows that grants awarded from the EU budget to NGOs, after excluding EU programmes in the field of education and research, amounted to at least EUR 2.6 billion in 2022, under direct management, across all EU programmes and funds; whereas the total amount of grants awarded to NGOs is likely to be higher owing to the absence of a definition of an NGO or of clear differentiation between NGOs and not-for-profit organisations (NFPOs) in the FTS11 ; _________________ 11 Overall amount of grants awarded from the EU Budget to NGOs in 2022, based on FTS analysis – approx. EUR 3.7 billion.mounted to EUR 3,7 billion in 2022; whereas currently only NGOs have to publish their funding sources while all the interest groups have to provide an estimation of their lobbying budges;

Amendment 140 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)

17 c. Appreciates that the Commission enhances the access status for the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in order to obtain information on the financial misconduct of individual NGOs, investigate them and impose appropriate sanctions in the event of fraud, corruption and other irregularities related to EU funds in compliance with the applicable regulations;

Amendment 141 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)

17 d. Appreciates that the Commission ensures that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding are required to publish annually the number, amounts and nature of lobbying contacts they have, and welcomes that a growing number of EU- funded NGOs publish online their pursued interests and financial data in compliance with the applicable regulations, while adding that a more proactive approach from NGOs to public transparency would be expected that goes beyond the existing requirements for EU grant funding;

Amendment 142 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

Amendment 143 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Regrets that ~~a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful~~the system in place can not fully prevent foreign actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs ~~in multiple Member States~~ to promote false narratives, including through disinformation~~, apparently~~ in order to influence EU policy ~~through different actors, as happened in Qatargate~~; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles and values; ~~reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through NGOs; calls on the Commission to require NGOs in receipt of EU grants to publish details of any funding received from~~calls on the European institutions to improve the implementation of their transparency standards, including the obligatory reporting of lobbying activities, as addition to other measources ~~in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five-year period14 ; _________________ 14 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 2.~~to improve transparency of EU funds beneficieries, as described in this report;

Amendment 144 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Regrets that a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs in multiple Member States to promote false narratives, including through disinformation, apparently in order to influence EU policy through different actors, as happened in Qatargate; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby againstin Qatargate NGOs have been misused by corrupt actors to influence the decision making process within the EU; rejects all mystification of NGOs because of this misuse, and recalls that the vast majority of NGOs already work in view of achieving the EU’s democratic principles and values; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through ~~NGO~~different instruments; calls on the Commission to require ~~NGOs in~~all receiptients of EU grants to publish details of any funding received from other sources in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five-year period14 ; _________________ 14 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 2.

Amendment 145 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Regrets that a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs in multiple Member States to promote false narratives, including through disinformation, apStrongly underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles and values; recognises therefore the importance of transparentlcy in ~~order to influence EU policy through different actors, as happened in Qatargate; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles and values~~all aspects of EU-funded activities to ensure responsible and accountable use of funds; acknowledges concerns regarding potential external influences on EU policy-making; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through ~~NGO~~various channels, including diplomatic ones; calls on the Commission to require ~~NGO~~all foreign organisations in receipt of EU grants to publish details of any funding received from other sources in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five- year period14 ; _________________ 14 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 2.

Amendment 146 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Regrets that a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs in multiple Member States to promote false narratives, including through disinformation, apparently in order to influence EU policy through different actors, as happened in Qatargate; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles and values; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through NGOUnderlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles and values; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through NGOs or EU- based legal entities funded by third countries; recalls its resolution of 1 June 2023 on foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation, and of 13 July 2023 on recommendations for reform of the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption, highlighting the risks of foreign interference, entrism and disinformation stemming from some NGOs and entities funded by non-EU countries; calls on the Commission to require NGOs and entities in receipt of EU grants to publish details of any funding received from other sources in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five-year period14 ; _________________ 14 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 2.

Amendment 147 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Regrets that a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs in multiple Member States to promote false narratives, including through disinformation, apparently in order to influence EU policy through different actors, as happened in Qatargate; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles ~~and value~~, values and interests; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through NGOs; calls on the Commission to require NGOs in receipt of EU grants to publish details of any funding received from other sources in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five- year period14 ; underlines that funding for NGOs from outside the EU can be a legitimate source of financing, but stresses that without clear transparency rules such funding possibilities are open to abuse and undue influence from third state actors; _________________ 14 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 2.

Amendment 148 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Regrets that a lack of transparency makes it possible for powerful actors to establish, fund and/or co-opt EU-funded NGOs in multiple Member States to promote false narratives, including through disinformation, apparently in order to influence EU policy through different actors, as happened in Qatargate; notes with concern that countries outside the EU are illegally trying to influence or are influencing Europe through their funding of NGOs and calls for solutions to prevent this; underlines that the EU budget must not be used to lobby against the EU’s democratic principles and values; calls for foreign interference in EU policies through the funding of NGOs to be combated; reiterates that foreign influence on EU policymaking may be possible through NGOs; points out that both state and civil society actors have repeatedly called attention to attempts by third countries to influence EU decision- makers, policies and institutions, which must be countered; calls on the Commission to require NGOs in receipt of EU grants to publish details of any funding received from other sources in relation to projects co-financed by the EU over a five- year period14; _________________ 14 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 2.

Amendment 149 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

~~19. Calls for national lobby registry laws to also require the disclosure of donors and their international financial chains;~~deleted

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

Amendment 150 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Calls for ~~national lobby registry laws to also require the disclosure of donors and their international financial chains~~for the creation of an EU wide transparency register for all organisations carrying out interest representation activities as a means to tackle undue influence;

Amendment 151 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. ~~Calls for national lobby registry laws to also require the disclosure of donors and their international financial chain~~Encourages Member States to establish national lobby registry laws;

Amendment 152 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Calls for national lobby registry laws to also require the disclosure of donors ~~and their international financial chains~~;

Amendment 153 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Calls for national lobby registry laws to ~~als~~be applied in all the Member States and also to require the disclosure of donors and their international financial chains;

Amendment 154 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Calls for national lobby registry laws to also require the disclosure of donors and their international financial chains; for all lobby organisations regardless of their nature

Amendment 155 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19 a. Encourages the Member States to establish equal transparency requirements for all organisations that engage in direct political lobbying independent of their legal status and sources of funding and calls on the Commission to assess the feasibility and necessity of EU legislation in this regard; Stresses however that top- down national regulation involves the risk of politically driven control of NGOs and that a cautious approach should be applied in this regard;

Amendment 156 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Recalls that certain organisations that engage in illegal activities and act against the EU’s values have been registered and are operating in Member States; believes that national administrations, which are closer to the ground, must assume responsibility for being the first effective layer that could stop organisations that are acting illegally and against EU rules;deleted

Amendment 157 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

Amendment 158 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. ~~Recalls that certain organisations that engage in illegal activities and act against the EU’s values have been registered and are operating in Member States; b~~Believes that national administrations, ~~which are~~being closer to the ground, ~~must assume responsibility for being the first effective layer that could stop organisations that are acting illegally and against EU rule~~represent the first effective layer for control and monitoring of organisations and reporting to the EU in case of suspected fraud or misuse of funds;

Amendment 159 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Recalls that ~~certain organisations that engage in illegal activities and act against the EU’s values have been registered and are operating in Member State~~Member States are responsible for registration and control and reporting of cases of detection of fraud, misuse of funds or money laundering convictions or ongoing investigations; believes that national administrations, which are closer to the ground, must assume responsibility for being the first effective layer ~~that could stop organisations that are acting illegally~~against illegal acts or and against EU rules;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas an analysis of FTS data shows that ~~grants awarded from the EU budget~~EU financial commitments to NGOs, after excluding EU programmes in the field of education and research, amounted to at least EUR 2.6 billion in 2022, under direct management, across all EU programmes and funds; whereas the ~~tot~~final amount of grants awarded1a to NGOs is likely to be higher1b owing to the absence of a definition of an NGO or of clear differentiation between NGOs and not-for-profit organisations (NFPOs) in the FTS11 ; _________________ 1a If a grant includes multiple partners, the total amount appears in FTS. 1b Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe. 11 Overall amount of grants awarded from the EU Budget to NGOs in 2022, based on FTS analysis – approx. EUR 3.7 billion.

Amendment 160 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Recalls that certain organisations that engage in illegal activities and act against the EU’s values have been registered and are operating in Member States; believes that national administrations, which are closer to the ground, must ~~assume responsibility for being~~strengthen their efforts to detect, eliminate and prevent such practices, as they are the first effective layer that could stop organisations that are acting illegally and against EU rules;

Amendment 161 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Calls on national authorities to take legal and administrative measures that facilitate action at EU level and make it easier and quicker for the Commission to include ~~such organisations in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (~~entities concerned in the EDES) and exclude them from EU funding; ~~calls for such a requirement for Member States to be included in the proposal for an NGO regulation;~~

Amendment 162 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Calls on national authorities to take legal and administrative measures that facilitate action at EU level and make it easier and quicker for the Commission to include ~~such organisations~~entities concerned in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and exclude them from EU funding; ~~calls for such a requirement for Member States to be included in the proposal for an NGO regulation;~~

Amendment 163 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

Amendment 164 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

Amendment 165 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Calls on national authorities to stop all organisations or entities that are acting against EU rules and take legal and administrative measures that facilitate action at EU level and make it easier and quicker for the Commission to include such organisations in ~~the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and exclude them from EU funding; calls for such a requirement for Member States to be included in the proposal for an NGO regulation~~its systems; urges the Commission to include all interest representatives in violation of EU rules in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and exclude them from EU funding accordingly;

Amendment 166 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Calls on national authorities to take legal and administrative measures that facilitate action at EU level and make it easier and quicker for the Commission to include such organisations in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and exclude them from EU funding; recalls ~~for such a requirement for Member States to be included in the propos~~that EDES rules are included into the Financial Regulation and only its provisions can determine decisions of exclusion, which should not be driven by any political for a~~n NGO regulation~~uthoritarian reasoning;

Amendment 167 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Calls on national authorities to ~~take legal and administrative measures that~~review their national systems and, if they find that they can be improved and made more robust, to take steps to facilitate action at EU level and make it easier and quicker for the Commission to include such organisations in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and exclude them from EU funding; calls for such a requirement for Member States to be included in the proposal for an NGO regulation;

Amendment 168 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Is of the opinion that no margins of appreciation should be left for Member States to subject NGOs to fatally restrictive requirements and obligations; recalls that that the Commission started an infringement procedure against Hungary when it introduced a foreign interference law in 2017 and that in its Judgement of 18 June 2020, European Commission v Hungary, the European Court of Justice stated that the right to freedom of association and thus EU law is violated if systematic obligations on Civil Society Organisations are rendering significantly more difficult the action and the operation of the organisations subject to them;

Amendment 169 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Calls for the creation of a public black list of NGOs, that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism supporting or glorifying violence, or have misused or misappropriated European Union's funds and are listed in the EDES database, in order to ensure they are blocked from access to Union institutions and Union funding programmes;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas ~~3 377 entities12 are registered in the EU Transparency Register under the category ‘NGOs, platforms and networks and similar’;~~ EU transparency and accountability requirements and control should apply to all interest representatives benefiting from EU funds; 3 377 entities12 are registered in the EU Transparency Register under the category ‘NGOs, platforms and networks and similar’; and that the nature of requirements and control has to conform with the categorisation established in the Transparency register, in view to take into account all judicial forms of entities and not only NGOs; whereas EU requirement and control do not solely have to be linked to the Transparency register as some entities granted by EU funds could prefer to stay out of this register to avoid putting at risk their existence; _________________ 12 Source: EU Transparency Register, data accessed on 22 September 2023.

Amendment 170 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Regrets that public transparency is negatively impacted by the publication of data in the FTS with a delay of between 6 and 18 months; calls on the Commission to publish information about EU grants awarded to NGOs no later than 6 months after the date on which the grant was awarded15 , including funding received from other sources, such as foundations; calls on the Commission to develop and integrate data validation tools so that the FTS data validation process is automatic and continuous, is quicker and consumes fewer resources16 ; _________________ ~~15 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 5.~~ 16 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 7.

Amendment 171 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Regrets that ~~public transparency is negatively impacted by the publication of~~ data in the FTS is published with a delay of between 6 and 18 months; calls on the Commission to publish information about EU grants ~~awarded to NGOs~~ no later than 6 months after the date on which the grant was awarded15 ~~, including funding received from other sources, such as foundations~~; calls on the Commission to develop and integrate data validation tools so that the FTS data validation process is automatic and continuous, is quicker and consumes fewer resources16 ; _________________ 15 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 5. 16 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 7.

Amendment 172 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Regrets that public transparency is negatively impacted by the publication of data in the FTS with a delay of between 6 and 18 months; calls on the Commission to publish information about EU grants ~~awarded to NGOs~~ no later than 6 months after the date on which the grant was awarded~~15 , including funding received from other sources, such as foundations~~; calls on the Commission to develop and integrate data validation tools so that the FTS data validation process is automatic and continuous, is quicker and consumes fewer resources~~16 ; _________________ 15 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 5. 16 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 7.~~;

Amendment 173 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Regrets that public transparency is negatively impacted by the publication of data in the FTS with a delay of between 6 and 18 months; calls on the Commission to publish information about EU grants awarded to NGOs no later than 6 months after the date on which the grant was awarded15 , including funding received from other sources, such as foundations; while maintaining the principle of confidentiality in particular in case of NGOs or beneficiaries facing serious threats of reprisal; calls on the Commission to develop and integrate data validation tools so that the FTS data validation process is automatic and continuous, is quicker and consumes fewer resources16 ; _________________ 15 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 5. 16 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 7.

Amendment 174 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Regrets that public transparency is negatively impacted by the publication of data in the FTS with a delay of between 6 and 18 months; calls on the Commission to publish information about EU grants awarded to NGOs and entities no later than 6 months after the date on which the grant was awarded15 , including funding received from other sources, such as foundations; calls on the Commission to develop and integrate data validation tools so that the FTS data validation process is automatic and continuous, is quicker and consumes fewer resources16 ; _________________ 15 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 5. 16 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 7.

Amendment 175 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Criticises those situations in which substantial co-funding is awarded from the EU budget to NGOs that are clearly and predominantly financed by non-EU states, networks or foundations and that deliver research that regularly negatively impacts European industry and transport providers; urges the Commission to trace the flow of funds from the first donor in order to prevent damage to the EU economy;deleted

Amendment 176 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

Amendment 177 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

Amendment 178 #

Arnaud DANJEAN, François-Xavier BELLAMY

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. ~~Criticises those~~Raises concern and points to the higher financial and legal risks in situations in which substantial co-funding is awarded from the EU budget to ~~NGO~~beneficiaries that are clearly and predominantly financed by non-EU states, networks or foundations and that deliver research that regularly negatively impacts European industry and transport providers; urges the Commission to trace the flow of funds from the first donor in order to prevent damage to the EU economy;

Amendment 179 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. ~~Criticises those situations in which substantial co-funding is awarded from the EU budget to~~Is concerned about the considerable influence that can be exerted by NGOs that are clearly and predominantly financed by non-EU states, networks, companies or foundations and ~~that deliver research that~~whose activities regularly negatively impacts European industry ~~and transport providers~~, agriculture, fisheries and transport providers; criticises situations where significant co-financing is provided to them from the EU budget; urges the Commission to trace the flow of funds from the first donor in order to prevent damage to the EU economy;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas ~~NGO~~all beneficiaries of EU funds are required to maintain accurate and transparent financial records~~, including~~ on the use of EU funds~~, as they are accountable to their members,~~ and origin of financial sources used for their functioning, as they are accountable to national authorities, their members, other public or private donors, partners and beneficiaries regarding ~~the actions they take, the~~ sources of their financing, including EU funds, and the ~~decisions they take on behalf of their stakeholders;~~ use of these funds1a; _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe.

Amendment 180 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

Amendment 181 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Criticises those situations in which substantial co-funding is awarded from the EU budget to NGOs that are clearly and predominantly financed by non-EU states, networks or foundations and that deliver research that regularly negatively impacts European industry and transport providers; urges the Commission to trace the flow of funds from the first donor, by creating a declaration of interests to be signed when participating in projects financed by dint of EU funds, in order to prevent damage to the EU economy;

Amendment 182 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

Amendment 183 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23 a. Is worried about any attempt about possible restrictions on NGOs that could further restrict the civic space and impose disproportionate burdens for NGOs, violating the Venice Commission/OSCE Guidelines on Freedom of Association, which establish that the right to freedom of association is based on the principle to seek, receive and use resources from different sources, to pursue their activities; reminds that any reporting or transparency obligations imposed on organisations, or any restrictions upon the right to seek resources, must be based on an assessment on whether the interference in the exercise of the right to freedom of association constitutes the least intrusive measure of all means that could have been adopted;

Amendment 184 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)

23 b. Recalls that transparency and accountability measures must serve only the purpose of ensuring legitimate public scrutiny; stresses that reporting and disclosure requirements must be accompanied by a specific analysis of a risk posed by certain organisations that would justify such a measure, aimed at clarifying whether such measures are necessary to avert a real, and not only a hypothetical danger;

Amendment 185 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

Amendment 186 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Regrets that the Commission’s systems ~~are not very transparent and that their data differ~~use different conventions to identify beneficiaries of projects and grants, resulting in differing data, making it difficult to reconcile information from different publicly accessible Commission portals and databases~~, because they use different conventions to identify beneficiaries of projects and grants~~; recommends that the Commission establish harmonised rules and standardise the layout and functionalities of programme-specific databases;

Amendment 187 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Regrets that the Commission’s systems a~~re not very transparent and that their data differ~~nd data are not user friendly, making it difficult to reconcile information from different ~~publicly accessible Commission~~ portals and databases, because they use different conventions to identify beneficiaries of projects and grants; recommends that the Commission establish harmonised rules and standardise the layout and functionalities of programme-specific databases;

Amendment 188 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Regrets that the Commission’s systems are not very transparent and that their data differ, making it difficult to reconcile information from different publicly accessible Commission portals and databases, because they use different conventions to identify beneficiaries of projects and grants; recommends that the Commission establish as much as possible harmonised rules and standardise the layout and functionalities of programme- specific databases taking into consideration the diverse environments and areas of actions in which NGOs operate and without creating additional unnecessary burden on NGOs, which should be able to work effectively and maximise their results on the grounds;

Amendment 189 #

Joachim KUHS, Dominique BILDE, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)

24 a. Regrets the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has recently ruled that Hungary´s attempt to bring non-profit organisations under the scope of its national Anti-Money Laundering rules violated the free movement of capital1a; recalls that Recommendation 8 of the FATF, Europol, Eurojust, Moneyval and various reports of the European Court of Auditors2a and national competent authorities3a warn about the use of NGOs as fronts for terrorist financing or money- laundering vehicles. _________________ 1a Judgment of the Court of Justice of 18 June 2020, European Commission v Hungary, C-78/18. 2a European Court of Auditors’ Special Report No 35/2018 of 18 December 2018 entitled ‘Transparency of EU funds implemented by NGOs: more effort needed’ 3a 2017 Annual Report of the Maltese Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations.

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas ~~NGO~~Member States lay the legal basis for NGOs and that the latter have their status registerd at national level; NGOs and entities are required to maintain accurate and transparent financial records, including on the use of EU funds, as they are accountable to their members, donors, partners and beneficiaries regarding the actions they take, the sources of their financing, including EU funds, and the decisions they take on behalf of their stakeholders;

Amendment 190 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)

24 a. Takes note that the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in its Peer Review recommended the Commission to build on progress in simplifying procedures and responding faster by reducing the reporting burden through greater reliance on streamlined and/or shared assessment mechanisms, particularly in partnering with CSOs; increasing the budgetary authority of the delegations; encouraging and incentivising innovation to improve its administrative systems, working methods and development impact17a _________________ 17a https://www.oecd- ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264309494- en.pdf?expires=1699460190&id=id∾cna me=ocid194994✓sum=E73FC75FB89AC CCF2B506924CE765AC2

Amendment 191 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)

24 b. Invites the Commission to assists NGOs in their reporting and monitoring obligations, by also reducing the administrative burden in particular on small NGOs; calls on the Commission to simplify the grant application and selection procedures and to increase the ceiling for administrative expenses in line with donors best practices;

Amendment 192 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. ~~Calls on~~Recognises that the Commission to uses a common unique entity, such as a unique participant identification code, and project identification keys across all portals and databases, ~~including on beneficiaries’ websites,~~ to facilitate the reconciliation of publicly available information provided by different systems and websites;, but calls onfor the ~~Commission to provide all NGO grant beneficiaries with code that extracts five years of funding data directly from the FTS and includes links to the corresponding~~establishment of a link between FTS and specific project ~~entries~~data in the Commission’s programme databases17 ; _________________ 17 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 19.

Amendment 193 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Calls on the Commission to use a common unique entity, such as a unique participant identification code, and project identification keys across all portals and databases, including on beneficiaries’ websites, to facilitate the reconciliation of publicly available information provided by different systems and websites; calls on the Commission to provide all ~~NGO grant~~ beneficiaries with code that extracts five years of funding data directly from the FTS and includes links to the corresponding project entries in the Commission’s programme databases17 ; _________________ 17 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 19.

Amendment 194 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

Amendment 195 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Calls on the Commission to use a common unique entity, such as a unique participant identification code, and project identification keys across all portals and databases, including on beneficiaries’ websites, to facilitate the reconciliation of publicly available information provided by different systems and websites; calls on the Commission to provide all ~~NGO~~ grant beneficiaries with code that extracts five years of funding data directly from the FTS and includes links to the corresponding project entries in the Commission’s programme databases17 ; _________________ 17 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 19.

Amendment 196 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Calls on the Commission to use a common unique entity, such as a unique participant identification code, and project identification keys across all portals and databases, including on beneficiaries’ websites, while maintaining the principle of confidentiality in particular in case of NGOs or beneficiaries facing serious threats of reprisal, in order to facilitate the reconciliation of publicly available information provided by different systems and websites; calls on the Commission to provide all NGO grant beneficiaries with code that extracts five years of funding data directly from the FTS and includes links to the corresponding project entries in the Commission’s programme databases17 ; _________________ 17 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 19.

Amendment 197 #

Joachim KUHS, Dominique BILDE, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25 a. Calls on the European Commission to end the exemption of civil society organisations from the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive and the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, in order to ensure that contributions to such organisations are duly scrutinized on their legality and origin, as requested by the European Court of Auditors4a, the FATF5a, the Maltese government report, backed by Moneyval6a; regrets that the European Court of Justice has deemed such scrutiny in violation of the free movement of capital7a; _________________ 4a Special Report No 35/2018 of 18 December 2018 entitled ‘Transparency of EU funds implemented by NGOs: more effort needed’, which requests that the EU draw up a legal definition of NGOs. 5a Recommendations V and VIII of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 6a 017 Annual Report of the Maltese Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations. 7a Judgment of the Court of Justice of 18 June 2020, European Commission v Hungary, C-78/18, ECLI:EU:C:2020:476.

Amendment 198 #

Joachim KUHS, Dominique BILDE, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)

25 b. Recalls that non-profit organisations (NPOs) are not obliged entities (OEs) under the 5th Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive, and therefore only subjected to de minimis customer due diligence requirements;

Amendment 199 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Observes inconsistencies in the content and extent of the information displayed on project websites and notes NGOs’ insufficient clarity on grant distribution among partners and on the connection to pertinent Commission databases; calls for a more proactive approach from NGOs to public transparency that goes beythe lack of connection between the project websites and the related Commission databases; underlines that sometimes these differences could also depend on the fact that, in some countries ruled by authoritarian and illiberal regimes and with reduced civic spaces, the dissemination of such information may put NGOs at risk; calls all beneficiaries of EU funding to the best possible public transparency; calls the Commissiond the current minimal requirements for EU grant funding18 ; calls for a clearer and more systematic presentation of information on NGO and EU-funded project websites on the grant funding received from the EU and from other sources for both specific projects ando provide clear and consistent guidelines on project objectives, results and impact, building up on best practices, and to make them available on programme databases; calls for the establishment of harmonised but flexible approaches to make EU funding more visible to the public, while avoiding putting at risk NGOs that ovpera~~ll, and on project objectives, results and impact; _________________ 18 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 17.~~te in precarious contexts and face serious threats and reprisal for receiving EU funding;

Amendment 2 #

Joachim KUHS, Dominique BILDE, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)

– having regard to the Judgment of the Court of Justice of 18 June 2020, European Commission v Hungary, C- 78/18,

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

F a. whereas, in some instances, NGO were used as fronts by terrorist organisations or organized crime groups to raise and transfer funds, or to support their agenda; whereas this risk was noted for the first time in 1996 by G7, which called for measures to prevent and combat "such financing through organizations which also have, or claim to have charitable, social or cultural goals, or which are also engaged in unlawful activities";1a _________________ 1a http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/terrorism/terro r25.htm

Amendment 200 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

Amendment 201 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

Amendment 202 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Observes inconsistencies in the content and extent of the information displayed on project websites and notes ~~NGOs’~~some entities' insufficient clarity on grant distribution among partners and on the connection to pertinent Commission databases; calls for a more proactive approach from NGOs and entities to public transparency and increased cooperation with EU budgetary authorities that goes beyond the current minimal requirements for EU grant funding18 and helps the monitoring and control of EU funding; calls for the Commission to establish a system for a commitment of NGOs and entities towards the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union when applying for EU funds and for the Commission to allow this by an online procedure; calls for a clearer and more systematic presentation of information on NGO and EU-funded project websites on the grant funding received from the EU and from other sources for both specific projects and overall, and on project objectives, results and impact; _________________ 18 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 17.

Amendment 203 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Observes significant inconsistencies in the content and extent of the information displayed on project websites and notes NGOs’ insufficient clarity on grant distribution among partners and on the connection to pertinent Commission databases; calls for a more proactive approach from NGOs to public transparency that goes beyond the current minimal requirements for EU grant funding18 ; calls for a clearer and more systematic presentation of information on NGO and EU-funded project websites on the grant funding received from the EU and from other sources for both specific projects and overall, and on project objectives, results and impact; _________________ 18 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 17.

Amendment 204 #

Dominique BILDE, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Joachim KUHS, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)

26 a. Calls for financial aid to NGOs to be made conditional on the provision of documents attesting to the use of funds in recent financial years, the specific projects supported, the results of the due diligence carried out and the responsibility to report within 6 months of the payment of funds;

Amendment 205 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)

26 a. Calls for the ultimate owners of companies to be listed in central registers in EU countries, accessible to people with a 'legitimate interest', such as investigative journalists, concerned citizens and NGOs;

Amendment 206 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Notes that, although the mainstreaming of the eGrants system as a common grants management tool and applicant registration system across Commission services has improved the quality and completeness of FTS data, more effort needs to be made to improve the ~~reliability of such data; is concerned that there are still continuing shortcomings in terms of consistency in existing Commission transparency portals and systems~~consistency of such data; further calls for a more user- friendly FTS that is linked to the Transparency Register and compatible with specific programmes’ databases, and highlights that it should include final payments and ~~a clear~~ definitions of ~~NGOs, making it possible to identify beneficiaries by category~~all categories of beneficiaries, including profit and non profit organisations; requests that the Commission prepare a proposal for further administrative action by 1 June 2024;

Amendment 207 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Notes that, although the mainstreaming of the eGrants system as a common grants management tool and applicant registration system across Commission services has improved the quality and completeness of FTS data, more effort needs to be made to improve the reliability of such data; is concerned that there are still continuing shortcomings in terms of consistency in existing Commission transparency portals and systems; further calls for a more user- friendly FTS that is linked to the Transparency Register and compatible with specific programmes’ databases, and highlights that it should include final payments ~~and a clear definition of NGOs~~, making it possible to identify beneficiaries by category; ~~requests that the Commission prepare a proposal for further administrative action by 1 June 2024;~~

Amendment 208 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Notes that, although the mainstreaming of the eGrants system as a common grants management tool and applicant registration system across Commission services has improved the quality and completeness of FTS data, more effort needs to be made to improve the reliability of such data; is concerned that there are still continuing shortcomings in terms of consistency in existing Commission transparency portals and systems; further calls for a more user- friendly FTS that is linked to the Transparency Register and compatible with specific programmes’ databases, and highlights that it should include final payments ~~and a clear definition of NGOs~~, making it possible to identify beneficiaries by category; requests that the Commission prepare a proposal for further administrative action ~~by 1 June 2024~~;

Amendment 209 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Notes that, although the mainstreaming of the eGrants system as a common grants management tool and applicant registration system across Commission services has improved the quality and completeness of FTS data, more effort needs to be made to improve the reliability of such data; is concerned that there are still continuing shortcomings in terms of consistency in existing Commission transparency portals and systems; further calls for a more user- friendly FTS that is linked to the Transparency Register and compatible with specific programmes’ databases, and highlights that it should include final payments ~~and a clear definition of NGOs~~, making it possible to identify beneficiaries by category; requests that the Commission prepare a proposal for further administrative action by 1 June 2024;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

F a. Whereas the exploitation of EU funds against EU rules, principles and values is on the rise; individuals and front organisations, most often under foreign influence, seek to obtain EU financial support and the respectability that results from it, whatever the amount, but in reality use EU funds for activities that undermine European fundamental principles and values and our attachment to democracy;

Amendment 210 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Notes that, although the mainstreaming of the eGrants system as a common grants management tool and applicant registration system across Commission services has improved the quality and completeness of FTS data, more effort needs to be made to improve the reliability of such data; is concerned that there are still continuing shortcomings in terms of consistency in existing Commission transparency portals and systems; further calls for a more user- friendly FTS that is linked to the Transparency Register and compatible with specific programmes’ databases, and highlights that it should include final payments ~~and a clear definition of NGOs~~, making it possible to identify beneficiaries by category; requests that the Commission prepare a proposal for further administrative action by 1 June 2024;

Amendment 211 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)

27 a. Notes that in some situations the home office of the non-profit organisation is in one country and the beneficent operations take place in another; Calls for the non-profit organisations to take appropriate measures to account for funds and services delivered in locations other than in its home jurisdiction;

Amendment 212 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal to set up, based on Article 36 of the Financial Regulation, a ~~single~~centralised, interoperable IT system for data mining and risk scoring to improve the efficiency of the internal control of budget implementation; underlines that this system must not only include recipients’ data, but also the data of beneficial owners in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/84919 ; calls for this system to include risk indicators based on data from the EDES under all management modes; _________________ 19 Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC, OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 73.

Amendment 213 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

Amendment 214 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal to set up, based on Article 36 of the Financial Regulation, a single, interoperable IT system for data mining and risk scoring to improve the efficiency of the internal control of budget implementation; underlines that this system must not only include recipients’ data, but also the data of beneficial owners in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/84919 ; and while maintaining the principle of confidentiality in particular in case of NGOs or beneficiaries facing serious threats of reprisal; calls for this system to include risk indicators based on data from the EDES under all management modes; _________________ 19 Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC, OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 73.

Amendment 215 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Demands that the guidelines for contracting external expertise, including by the political groups, better emphasise that only organisations that work based on verifiable facts are eligible for funding; demands that the recipients enter into a corresponding voluntary commitment prior to funding and that the Commission and the ECA carry out corresponding random checks; rejects any funding of organisations that have demonstrably spread false information and/or whose goals are directed against the fundamental values and recognised principles of the EU’s social market economy;deleted

Amendment 216 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

Amendment 217 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Demands that the guidelines for contracting external expertise, including by the political groups, better emphasise that ~~only~~any funding of organisations that ~~work based on verifiable facts are eligible for funding; demands that the recipients enter into a corresponding~~have acted against the rights and voaluntary commitment prior to funding and that the Commission and the ECA carry out corresponding random checks; rejects any funding of organisations that have demonstrably spread false information and/or whose goals are directed against the fundamental values and recognised principles of the EU’s social market economyes enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU), and the fundamental rights under the EU Charter is non-eligible;

Amendment 218 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Demands that the guidelines for contracting external expertise, including by the political groups, better emphasise that only organisations ~~that work based on verifiable facts ar~~or entities whose goals are in line with the fundamental rights and values of the Union enshrined in the Treaties can be eligible for funding; demands that the recipients enter into a corresponding voluntary commitment prior to funding and that the Commission and the ECA carry out corresponding random checks; rejects any funding of organisations that have demonstrably spread false information and/or whose goals are directed against the fundamental values and recognised principles of the EU’s social market economy;

Amendment 219 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Acknowledges that the Commission provides administrative and financial support for the establishment of information platforms for MEPs and the public, but wonders, in the case of a platform on the Nature Restoration Law20 , whether the timing of the establishment and the lack of monitoring of the reliability of the information disseminated encouraged one-sided partisan political influence, thus giving the impression that the executive branch lobbies the legislative branch, which would constitute an improper use of taxpayers’ money; requests that the Commission disclose the timing and the amount of money flows in relation to that platform by 1 February 2024 and asks the ECA to review this case and determine what action should be taken; _________________ 20 ‘Business and Biodiversity’, European Commission, accessed 29 September 2023.deleted

Amendment 22 #

Joachim KUHS, Dominique BILDE, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

F a. Whereas NGOs and civil society organisations are exempt from most AMLD and DAC transparency and reporting requirements; whereas the European Court of Auditors’ Special Report No 35/2018 highlights that NGOs are prone to be used for money laundering purposes;

Amendment 220 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

Amendment 221 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

Amendment 222 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

Amendment 223 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

Amendment 224 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Acknowledges that the Commission provides administrative and financial support for the establishment of information platforms for MEPs and the public, but ~~wonders~~strongly deplores that, in the case of a platform on the Nature Restoration Law20 , ~~whether~~ the timing of the establishment and the lack of monitoring of the reliability of the information disseminated encouraged one-sided partisan political influence, ~~thus giving the impression that~~leading to the unacceptable situation in which the the executive branch lobbies the legislative branch, ~~which would~~thus constituteing an improper use of taxpayers’ money; requests that the Commission disclose the timing and the amount of money flows in relation to that platform by 1 February 2024 and asks the ECA to review this case and determine what action should be taken; _________________ 20 ‘Business and Biodiversity’, European Commission, accessed 29 September 2023.

Amendment 225 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Acknowledges that the Commission provides administrative and financial support for the establishment of information platforms for MEPs and the public, but wonders strongly deplores that, in the case of a platform on the Nature Restoration Law20 , whether the timing of the establishment and the lack of monitoring of the reliability of the information disseminated encouraged one-sided partisan political influence, thus giving the impression that the leading to the unacceptable situation in which the executive branch lobbies the legislative branch, which would thus constituteing an improper use of taxpayers’ money; requests that the Commission disclose the timing and the amount of money flows in relation to that platform by 1 February 2024 and asks the ECA to review this case and determine what action should be taken; ~~_________________ 20~~ ‘Business and Biodiversity’, European Commission, accessed 29 September 2023.

Amendment 226 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Notes that there might be a conflict of interest in the EU institutions if the legislative branch were influenced by the executive branch; calls for the Commission, the EU agencies and other EU entities and institutions to be required to make their contracts, agreements and work programmes with NGOs available without delay to members of the Committee on Budgetary Control by 1 February 2024; regrets that multiple requests by the rapporteur for access to contracts between NGOs and European agencies have not been followed up and that a request must be made via the chairperson of the Committee on Budgetary Control; calls for access to contracts to be given to members of the Committee on Budgetary Control without delay;deleted

Amendment 227 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

Amendment 228 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

Amendment 229 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas there is an online manual1-B for all programmes that contains relevant and useful information on techniques concerning communication and the dissemination of programmes and their results; _________________ 1-B https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding- tenders/opportunities/docs/2021- 2027/common/guidance/om_en.pdf

Amendment 230 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Notes that there might be a conflict of interest in the EU institutions if the legislative branch were influenced by the executive branch; calls for the Commission, the EU agencies and other EU entities and institutions to be required to make their contracts, agreements and work programmes ~~with NGOs~~ available without delay to members of the Committee on Budgetary Control by 1 February 2024; regrets that multiple requests by the rapporteur for access to contracts between NGOs and European agencies have not been followed up and that a request must be made via the chairperson of the Committee on Budgetary Control; calls for access to contracts to be given to members of the Committee on Budgetary Control without delay;

Amendment 231 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Notes that the coexistence of reporting obligations and accounting practices at the national and EU levels may lead to a disproportionate administrative burden for NGOs; calls on the Commission to ensure that reporting obligations at the EU and national levels are consistent in order to guarantee easier monitoring of the fulfilment of obligations, especially for smaller NGOs; calls on the Commission to develop a common monitoring system to identify final beneficiaries, as is already the case in regional policy; recommends that such a system should be based on the monitoring principles under shared management that apply to EU Member States;

Amendment 232 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Notes that the coexistence of reporting obligations and accounting practices at the national and EU levels may lead to a disproportionate administrative burden for NGOs; calls on the Commission to ensure that reporting obligations at the EU and national levels are consistent in order to guarantee easier monitoring of the fulfilment of obligations, especially for smaller NGOs; calls on the Commission to develop a common and harmonised monitoring system toaimed at reducing the red tape, improving efficiency and identifying final beneficiaries, ~~as is already the case in regional policy; recommends that such a system should be b~~while maintaining the principle of confidentiality in particular in cased o~~n the monitoring principles under shared management that apply to EU Member States;~~f NGOs or beneficiaries facing serious threats of reprisal

Amendment 233 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. ~~Notes that~~Regrets the coexistence of reporting obligations and accounting practices at the national and EU levels may lead to a disproportionate administrative burden for NGOs; calls on the Commission to ensure that reporting obligations at the EU and national levels are consistent in order to guarantee easier monitoring of the fulfilment of obligations, especially for smaller NGOs; calls on the Commission to develop a common monitoring system to identify final beneficiaries, as is already the case in regional policy; recommends that such a system should be based on the monitoring principles under shared management that apply to EU Member States; calls also for an enhanced dialogue among the European Commission and NGOs beneficiaries of EU funding on how to reduce excessive burden1a; _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe.

Amendment 234 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Notes that the coexistence of reporting obligations and accounting practices at the national and EU levels may lead to a disproportionate administrative burden for NGOs and entities; calls on the Commission to ensure that reporting obligations at the EU and national levels are consistent in order to guarantee easier monitoring of the fulfilment of obligations, especially for smaller ~~NGO~~and medium ones; calls on the Commission to develop a common monitoring system to identify final beneficiaries, as is already the case in regional policy; recommends that such a system should be based on the monitoring principles under shared management that apply to EU Member States and that EU funds be tracked up to the final beneficiaries in a systematic, standardised and harmonised manner across information and transparency platforms at EU level;

Amendment 235 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. ~~Requests that~~Invites the Commission to provide a comprehensive analysis of whether and by what financial means it provides training for lobbyists, including NGOs, on the Financial Regulation and on the EU budget; requests that this analysis be provided by 1 February 2024 with a listor intensify training for all its programmes officers and implementing agencies on the Financial Regulation and on the EU budget; call the Commission to provide all beneficiaries of EU funding training tools ofn relevant training events and the names of beneficiaries; requests, if applicable, that the content of the training be made public; requests that the content of these training courses be made available to members of the Committee on Budgetary Control on request; porting and financial rules; calls the Commission for the simplification of grants application and selection procedures, uniformity of approach and transparency of the process, reduction of administrative burden, and regular adaptation of these rules to changing circumstances and lessons learned; calls on the Commission to increase the ceiling for administrative expenses of NGOs and explore new models for full cost recovery of overhead costs;

Amendment 236 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Requests that the Commission provides a comprehensive analysis of whether and by what financial means it provides training for lobbyists, including NGOs, on the Financial Regulation and on the EU budget; requests that this analysis be provided ~~by 1 February 2024~~ with a list of relevant training events and the names of beneficiaries; requests, if applicable, that the content of the training be made public; requests that the content of these training courses be made available to members of the Committee on Budgetary Control on request;

Amendment 237 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)

33 a. Notes the 2018 finding of the ECA that provision of sub-granting does not allow the Commission to properly monitor how EU funds are used; calls for the amounts provided to NGOs as third parties in the form of cascading grants to be clearly identifiable in the FTS and in the Commission annual financial and accountability reporting;

Amendment 238 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4

~~EU transparency regis~~deleterd

Amendment 239 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)

F b. Whereas the Commission has the responsibility to ensure the implementation of the EU budget and to respect EU regulations and values, and whereas in that perspective all ex ante and ex post controls have to safeguard that only NGOs and entities working in respect of EU rules, principles and values will be granted EU funds;

Amendment 240 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the EU transparency register; calls for a transparency officer to be placed in allfor introduction of a specialised training on transparency rules for both EP staff and MEPs to assure at least one member of the EP staff in every committee secretariats and relevant administrative units; recalls that, according to the transparency register guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of EU-funded NGOs should also be recorded in the and at least one MEP and a member of staff in political groups take on a role of a 'transparency officer', responsible for advising on EP transparency r~~egister~~ules;

Amendment 241 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the EU transparency register;all EU institutions for far stricter implementation, enforcement and supervision of adherence to the current provisions on the EU transparency register; calls for allocating more resources to the Transparency Register Secretariat so that it is able to offer support to all applicants and registrants, especially small entities and NGOs, throughout the registration process and to verify the information they provided more thoroughly; in particular, calls for a transparency officer to be placed in all committee secretariats and relevant administrative units; recalls that, according to the transparency register guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of ~~EU-funded NGOs~~entities registered should also be recorded in the transparency register;

Amendment 242 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; calls on the relevant EU institutions and bodies to provide the tools necessary for the publication of such meetings; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the EU transparency register; ~~calls for a transparency officer to be placed in all committee secretariats and relevant administrative units;~~ recalls that, according to the transparency register guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of EU-funded NGOs should also be recorded in the transparency register;

Amendment 243 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the EU transparency register; calls for a transparency officer to be placed in all committee secretariats and relevant administrative units; recalls that, according to the transparency register guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of EU-funded NGOs and entities should also be recorded in the transparency register; requests to have the transparency database only accessible to specific authorised persons and upon request to the budgetary authority, in order to avoid the dissemination of information that could endanger an individual’s life, personal safety or the existence of an NGO;

Amendment 244 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the EU transparency register; calls for a transparency officer to be placed in all committee secretariats and relevant administrative units; recalls that, according to the transparency register guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of EU-funded NGOs should also be recorded in the transparency register; calls for adequate meausres against organisations that systematically fail to respect such obligations, including a ban from applying for EU for a period of 5 years.

Amendment 245 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all applicants or beneficiaries of EU funding, including NGOs, are required to publish annually the number of lobbying contacts they have, along with their nature and their monetary value; reiterates in this context the need for a comprehensive financial pre-screening of these entities before they are listed in the EU transparency register; calls for a transparency officer to be placed in all committee secretariats and relevant administrative units; recalls that, according to the transparency register guidelines, changes in the data provided should be communicated as soon as they occur and, in any case, within three months; insists that any changes in the board or leadership of EU-funded NGOs should also be recorded in the transparency register; calls for adequate measures against organisations that systematically fail to respect such obligations, including a ban from applying for EU funding for a period of 5 years.

Amendment 246 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a. Calls on all NGOs and entities committed to full transparency and accountability, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and promoting democratic and EU values to request to be in the Transparency register when applying for EU funds;

Amendment 247 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. Calls for strict enforcement of the rules for access to Parliament and for invitations to parliamentary committees, which are conditional on the registration of each organisation in the transparency register ~~by the new transparency officer who will be placed in each committee secretariat;~~

Amendment 248 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

~~36. Urges the Commission to develop a centralised certification system for NGOs wishing to apply for EU funding that are registered in the EU transparency register, based on existing best practices;~~deleted

Amendment 249 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)

F b. whereas the EU lacks a formal definition of NGOs, which are referred to in various ways; whereas this hinders the efforts to efficiently regulate NGOs' transparency and fiscal accountability;

Amendment 250 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

Amendment 251 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

Amendment 252 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

Amendment 253 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Regrets the coexistence of different disclosure requirements for different types of organisations in the transparency register; calls on the Commission to impose the same disclosure requirements on all types of organisation registered in the transparency register; notes that, in particular, they must all be required to disclose their income and all amounts spent on lobbying21 ; reiterates that failure to correctly disclose such amounts shall results in a ban to engage in any lobbying activity with the EU institutions and hsall not be permitted to apply for EU funding for a period of 5 years; _________________ 21 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 24.3.

Amendment 254 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Regrets the coexistence of different disclosure requirements for different types of organisations in the transparency register; calls on the Commission to impose the same disclosure requirements on all types of organisation registered in the transparency register; notes that, in particular, they must all be required to disclose their income and all amounts spent on lobbying~~21 ; _________________ 21 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 24.3.~~; reiterates that failure to fully disclose such amounts shall result in a ban to engage in any lobbying activity with the EU institutions and shall not be permitted to apply for EU funding for a period of 5 years

Amendment 255 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Regrets the coexistence of different disclosure requirements for different types of organisations in the transparency register; calls on the Commission to impose the same disclosure requirements on all types of organisation registered in the transparency register; notes that, in particular, they must all be required to disclose their income and all amounts spent on lobbying21 ; notes that when an NGO is financed more than 25% by the state or Commission, that this should be listed in the transparency register. _________________ 21 See: transparency and accountability study, recommendation 24.3.

Amendment 256 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)

37 a. Notes that when an NGO is financed more than 25% by the state or Commission, that this should be listed in the transparency register.

Amendment 257 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 b (new)

37 b. Notes that when an NGO is financed more than 25% by the state or Commission, that this should be listed in the transparency register.

Amendment 258 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls the recommendations from the 2021 Parliament discharge resolution22 calling for a revision of the EU transparency register and its guidelines to require the disclosure of details on all funding sources from registered organisations, including the shares held in other companies, and to ~~allow~~trace EU funds ~~to be traced~~, as far as the existing rules allow it, from the direct recipient to the final beneficiary ~~when funds are passed along a chain, including when funds from one NGO or stakeholder are transferred to another~~; _________________ 22 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0138, paragraph 74.

Amendment 259 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls the recommendations from the 2021 Parliament discharge resolution22 calling for a revision of the EU transparency register and its guidelines to require the disclosure of details on all funding sources from registered organisations, including the shares held in other companies, and to allow EU funds to be traced from the direct recipient to the final beneficiary when funds are passed along a chain~~, including when funds from one NGO or stakeholder are transferred to another~~; _________________ 22 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0138, paragraph 74.

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)

F c. whereas on 22 October 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defence declared six Palestinian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – Al-Haq, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, the Addameer Institute, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defence for Children International and the Union of Agricultural Works Committees – as terrorist organisations under the 2016 Counterterrorism Law 1a; whereas these NGOs were active under the cover of "Civic Society Organizations" but in practice are controlled by the senior leaders of the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine" and diverted humanitarian funds from European donors to the PFLP and recruited members into the terror group 3c; _________________ 1a https://www.ngo- monitor.org/reports/pflp-ties-six-newly- designated-terror-ngos/ 3c https://nbctf.mod.gov.il/en/Pages/211021E N.aspx

Amendment 260 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Recalls the recommendations from the 2021 Parliament discharge resolution22 calling for a revision of the EU transparency register and its guidelines to require the disclosure of details on all funding sources from registered organisations, including the shares held in other companies, and to allow EU funds to be traced from the direct recipient to the final beneficiary when funds are passed along a chain, including when funds from one NGO or stakeholder are transferred to another; while maintaining the principle of confidentiality in particular in case of NGOs or beneficiaries facing serious threats of reprisal; _________________ 22 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0138, paragraph 74.

Amendment 261 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Calls for all EU-funded NGOs to publish online all meetings with MEPs, MEPs’ assistants or representatives of other EU institutions, bodies or agencies whenever such meetings relate to ongoing EU legislative affairs or to the EU financing that NGOs receive or apply for, in line with similar obligations for MEPs; calls on the relevant EU institutions and bodies to provide the tools necessary for the publication of such meetings;deleted

Amendment 262 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

Amendment 263 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

Amendment 264 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

Amendment 265 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Calls for all ~~EU-funded NGOs to publish online~~the publication of all meetings ~~with MEPs,~~by MEPs’ assistants or representatives of other EU institutions, bodies or agencies whenever such meetings relate to ongoing EU legislative affairs ~~or to the EU financing that NGOs receive or apply for~~, in line with similar obligations for MEPs; calls on the relevant EU institutions and bodies to provide the tools necessary for the publication of such meetings;

Amendment 266 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

Amendment 267 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

Amendment 268 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)

39 a. Consider the adoption of an NGO regulation as a discriminatory measure that targets NGOs but not all other EU recipients; is of the opinion that issues such as revolving doors, transparency in financing and donations, the fight against money laundering, limiting foreign interference , independence from political and economic influence, whistleblowing are of importance for all entities receiving EU funds, and should not be used to limit the space of action of the NGOs;

Amendment 269 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5

~~NGO regulation~~deleted

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F d (new)

F d. whereas the Discharge on the General Budget of the EU and the European Commission for 2021 underlines the deep concern regarding the funding of projects carried out by or involving NGOs with links to radical religious and political organisations and calls on the Commission to guarantee that Union funds only finance organisations that strictly respect all Union values and urges the Commission to set up ex ante mechanisms clearly identifying NGOs operating on Union territory and abroad that have acknowledged ties to religious fundamentalist networks and push forward an agenda that is undermining Union values; 5c _________________ 5c https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/TA-9-2023-0137_EN.html

Amendment 270 #

~~NGO regulation~~deleted

Amendment 271 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reiterates its call made in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution23 to adopt an NGO regulation by 1 June 2024 that includes harmonised minimum requirements for NGOs across all EU entities and a clear definition and categorisation of the fields of activity and size of NGOs and that provides for the necessary conditions for NGOs to receive EU funds; insists that there should be a clear distinction between regular NGOs and ‘public utility NGOs’; calls on the Commission to establish simplified procedures for small NGOs; _________________ 23 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 20.deleted

Amendment 272 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

Amendment 273 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

Amendment 274 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reiterates its call made in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution23 to adopt an NGO regulation by 1 June 2024 that includes harmonised minimum requirements for NGOs across all EU entities and a clear definition and categorisation of the fields of activity and size of NGOs and that provides for the necessary conditions for NGOs to receive EU funds; insists that there should befor a clear definition of NGOs in line with the financial rules proposal that can be applicable to all funding programmes and encompasses the different National legal frameworks, including a clear distinction between regular NGOs and ‘public utility NGOs’; calls on the Commission to establish simplified procedures for small NGOs; _________________ 23 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 20.ification of non profit organisations working for the public good;

Amendment 275 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reiterates its call made in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution23 to adopt an NGO regulation by 1 June 2024 that includes harmonised minimum requirements for NGOs across all EU entities and a clear definition and categorisation of the fields of activity and size of NGOs and that provides for the necessary conditions for NGOs to receive EU funds; ~~insists that there should be a clear distinction between regular NGOs and ‘public utility NGOs’;~~ calls on the Commission to establish simplified procedures for small NGOs; _________________ 23 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 20.

Amendment 276 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reiterates its call made in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution23 to adopt an NGO regulation by 1 June 2024 that includes harmonised minimum requirements for NGOs across all EU entities and a clear definition and categorisation of the fields of activity and size of NGOs and that provides for the necessary conditions for NGOs to receive EU funds; regrets that the Commission has not followed Parliament’s recommendations so far on the issue; insists that there should be a clear distinction between regular NGOs and ‘public utility NGOs’; calls on the Commission to establish simplified procedures for small NGOs; _________________ 23 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 20.

Amendment 277 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40

40. Reiterates its call made in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution23 to adopt an NGO regulation by 1 June 2024 that includes harmonised minimum requirements for NGOs across all EU entities and a clear definition and categorisation of the fields of activity and size of NGOs and that provides for the necessary conditions for NGOs to receive EU funds; insists that there should be a clear distinction between regular NGOs and ‘public utility NGOs’; calls on the Commission to establish simplified procedures for suitably defined small NGOs; _________________ 23 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 20.

Amendment 278 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

Amendment 279 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F e (new)

F e. whereas the same high standrads for accountability and the same transparency rules should apply to all NGOs that receive EU funding regardless of whether the place where they operate is within or outside the European Union;

Amendment 280 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

Amendment 281 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls on the Commission to ensure that, when preparing its proposal for the NGO regulation, important questions on issues relating to, but not limited to, clear definitions, revolving doors, transparency in financing and donations, the fight against money launderingconsistency of financial policies and regulations with other current and future EU rules and policies that relate directly or indirectly to NGOs, such as the rule of law, lim~~iting foreign interference, independence from political and economic influence, whistleblowing, and transparency in actual leadership and ownership are dealt with in a sufficiently transparent manne~~plementation of the Charter of fundamental rights, the anti- money laundering package, the EU Transparency Register; calls for the organisation of civil dialogue with the sector;

Amendment 282 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls on the Commission to ~~ensure that, when prepar~~fully address ing its proposal for the NGO regulation, important questions on issues relating to, but not limited to, clear definitions, revolving doors, transparency in financing and donations, the fight against money laundering, limiting foreign interference, independence from political and economic influence, whistleblowing, and transparency in actual leadership and ownership are dealt with in a sufficiently transparent manner;

Amendment 283 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Calls on the Commission to ensure that, when preparing its proposal for the NGO regulation, to take into consideration the exisiting transparency rules valid for all entities incuding important questions on issues relating to, but not limited to, ~~clear definitions,~~ revolving doors, transparency in financing and donations, the fight against money laundering, limiting foreign interference, independence from political and economic influence, whistleblowing, and transparency in actual leadership and ownership are dealt with in a sufficiently transparent manner;

Amendment 284 #

Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)

41a. Urges the Commission to ensure that only qualified persons are appointed to managerial positions in non- governmental organisations; proposes that the fulfilment of qualification requirements should be the main condition for granting funding for organisations; points out that this will also help guarantee that funding is allocated to accountable and capable operators, thereby promoting a more efficient use of funds from an economic perspective;

Amendment 285 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution24 for the creation of a public blacklist of NGOs that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism, supporting or glorifying violence or spreading unfounded scientific statements or that have misused or misappropriated EU funds and are listed in the EDES database in order to ensure that they are blocked from access to EU institutions and EU funding programmes; expects a proposal on this to be put forward by the Commission no later than 1 July 2024; _________________ 24 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 19.deleted

Amendment 286 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

Amendment 287 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution24 for the creation of a public blacklist of NGOs that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism, supporting or glorifying violence or spreading unfounded scientific statements or that have misused or misappropriated EU funds and are listed in the EDES database in order to ensure that theyto ensure that EU funds beneficiaries, listed in the EDES database, are blocked from access to EU institutions and EU funding programmes; expects a proposal on this to be put forward by the Commission no later than 1 July 2024; ~~_________________ 24 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 19.~~

Amendment 288 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution24 for the creation of a public blacklist of NGOs that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism, supporting or glorifying violence or spreading unfounded scientific statements or that have misused or misappropriated EU fundsensuring that all EU funding beneficiaries that have misused or misappropriated EU funds, have engaged in activities contrary to the EU values, and are listed in the EDES database ~~in order to ensure that they~~ are blocked from access to EU institutions and EU funding programmes; expects a proposal on this to be put forward by the Commission no later than 1 July 2024; ~~_________________ 24 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 19.~~

Amendment 289 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution24 for the creation of a public blacklist of ~~NGO~~entities that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism, supporting or glorifying violence or spreading unfounded scientific statements or that have misused or misappropriated EU funds and are listed in the EDES database in order to ensure that they are blocked from access to EU institutions and EU funding programmes; expects a proposal on this to be put forward by the Commission no later than 1 July 2024; _________________ 24 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 19.

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the vital role played by NGOs in ~~linking civil society with political decision-making in all EU policy areas; highlights, in particular, their role in implementing the EU budget and rep~~promoting and defending human rights and democracy, combating any form of discrimination, fighting for a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, informing individuals and groups, especially the most vulnerable, about their rights and standing up for them when those rights are violated, denouncing human and civil rights violations, promoting intercultural dialogue, civic engagement and public participation, countering disinformation and hate speech, collecting public interest information and holding governments and elected representatives accountable to citizens, and fighting corruption and impunity for human rights abuses; stresse~~nting civil society~~s, moreover, their crucial role in providing societal benefits and assistance for the most vulnerable groups, including women, LGBTIQ+ persons, persons with disabilities, minorities, migrants and refugees;

Amendment 290 #

Juan Ignacio ZOIDO ÁLVAREZ, François-Xavier BELLAMY

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution24 for the creation of a public blacklist of NGOs that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism, anti-Semitism, supporting or glorifying violence or spreading unfounded scientific statements or that have misused or misappropriated EU funds and are listed in the EDES database in order to ensure that they are blocked from access to EU institutions and EU funding programmes; regrets that the Commission has not followed the Parliament's recommendation on the issue and expects a proposal on this to be put forward by the Commission no later than 1 July 2024; _________________ 24 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 19.

Amendment 291 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. Reiterates its call in the 2021 Commission discharge resolution24 for the creation of a public blacklist of NGOs that have engaged in activities such as hate speech, incitement to terrorism, religious extremism, Islamic fundamentalism, antisemitism, supporting or glorifying violence or spreading unfounded scientific statements or that have misused or misappropriated EU funds and are listed in the EDES database in order to ensure that they are blocked from access to EU institutions and EU funding programmes; expects a proposal on this to be put forward by the Commission no later than 1 July 2024; _________________ 24 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137, paragraph 19.

Amendment 292 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)

42 a. Expresses concerns about threats and attacks on NGOs, including in the form of the creation of public black list of NGOs, when the EDES system is already a valuable instrument of early detection and exclusion, and which scope has been broadened with the Commission proposals on the Financial Regulation to include incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence;

Amendment 293 #

Joachim KUHS, Dominique BILDE, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)

42 a. Deeply regrets that controversial NGOs such as "Islamic Relief-DE" and "Islamic Relief Sverige" are listed as certified EU Humanitarian partners8a for the period 2021- 2027; _________________ 8a https://civil-protection-humanitarian- aid.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023- 09/List%20of%20certified%20NGOs%201 4.09.2023.pdf

Amendment 294 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43

43. Calls on the ECA to draw up a special report following up on its 2018 findings with a view to investigating the internal democratic structures of NGOs, the direct and indirect inflows and outflows of EU and other funds and to the extent to which these are in line with democratic and human rights and EU values, calls on the ECA to additionally conduct a comprehensive analysis of the visibility- and transparency-related provisions of the current legal framework for the EU transparency register and the Financial Regulation and to make further recommendations to and analyse the final beneficiary and first financial sponsor transparency and further recommendations to enhance it; expects the ECA to deliver this report by 1 December 2024 and calls on it to adapt its existing work plan if necessary;deleted

Amendment 295 #

Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43

Amendment 296 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43

Amendment 297 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43

43. Calls on the ECA to ~~draw up a special report~~ follow~~ing~~ up on its 2018 findings with a view to investigating the internal democratic structures of NGOs, the direct and indirect inflows and outflows of EU and other funds and to the extent to which these are in line with democratic and human rights and EU values, calls on the ECA to additionally conduct a comprehensive analysis of the visibility- and transparency-related provisions of the current legal framework for the EU transparency register and the Financial Regulation and to make further recommendations to and analyse the final beneficiary and first financial sponsor transparency and further recommendations to enhance it; expects the ECA to deliver this report by 1 December 2024 and calls on it to adapt its existing work plan if necessary;special report

Amendment 298 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Calls on the Commission and the ECA to systematically submit to Parliament, as the discharge authority, the information from the risk-based on- site reviews of NGOs that it conducts; calls on the Commission to go beyond the minimum requirements and increase the number of NGOs it subjects to reviews; insists that such information be made publicly available;deleted

Amendment 299 #

Ilana CICUREL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)

– having regard to the Discharge from 2021 on the EU General Budget - Commission and Executive Agencies;1a _________________ 1a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/TA-9-2023-0137_EN.html

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the vital role played by NGOs in ~~linking civil society with political decision-making in all EU policy areas; highlights, in particular, their role in implementing the EU budget and representing civil society~~promoting and defending the rights and values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU), and the fundamental rights under the EU Charter at European, national, regional and local levels; notes that NGOs play a key role in enabling citizens’ access to civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights; stresses, therefore, that NGOs must be protected, including through the provision and access to regular and adequate public funding at all levels; acknowledges the diversity of NGOs as regards their size, resources and staff;

Amendment 300 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Calls on the Commission and the ECA to systematically submit to Parliament, as the discharge authority, the information from the risk-based on-site reviews of ~~NGOs that it conducts; calls on the Commission to go beyond the minimum requirement~~EU beneficiaries aund ~~increase the number of NGOs it subjects to reviews; insists that such information be made publicly available~~er direct management and their results;

Amendment 301 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Calls on the Commission and the ECA to systematically submit to Parliament, as the discharge authority, the information from the risk-based on-site reviews of NGOs that it conducts; calls on the Commission to go beyond the minimum requirements and increase the number of ~~NGO~~projects it subjects to reviews; insists that such information be made publicly available;, while still maintaining the principle of confidentiality in case of risk of reprisal

Amendment 302 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44 a (new)

44 a. Encourages increased cooperation with the European Anti-Faud Office (OLAF) and the European Court of Auditors (ECA); calls therefore on the Commission to enhance in particular the access status for OLAF in order to obtain information on the financial misconduct of individual NGOs and entities, investigate them and impose appropriate sanctions in the event of fraud, corruption and other irregularities related to EU funds in compliance with the applicable regulations;

Amendment 303 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45

45. Regrets the fact that it is not possible for OLAF to obtain information on the financial misconduct of individual NGOs; calls on the Commission to enhance OLAF’s access status; expects that the development of the monitoring system will make it easier to identify organisations guilty of misconduct, to name and investigate them and to impose appropriate sanctions;deleted

Amendment 304 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45

Amendment 305 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45

Amendment 306 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45

Amendment 307 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 a (new)

45 a. Calls the Commission to launch with the co-legislators and in partnership with stakeholders an in-depth reform of the EU financial regulation before 2027 with objective of reinforcing EU transparency and accountability for all interest representatives, with a focus on NGOs and entities as categorised in the Transparency register and to create better budgetary control, including with safeguard clauses and without endangering the raison d’être and functioning of these organisations and their workers in any way and in line with the recommendations of this resolution;

Amendment 308 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 a (new)

45 a. Reminds that NGOS are submitted to the same level of control and investigations like any other EU recipients funds covering all expenditure side, within the respective mandate of both OLAF and EPPO;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. WStates EU transparency and accountability is most essential for democracy, fundamental freedoms, inclusion and diversity; welcomes the vital role played by NGOs in ~~link~~representing civil society ~~with political decision-making in all EU policy areas; highlights, in particular, their role in implementing the EU budget and representing civil society~~; providing support to citizens and communities in various areas; wishes to create a most favourable and just European transparency and accountability system;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Welcomes the vital role played by NGOs in linking civil society with political decision-making in all EU policy areas, in particular by keeping decision-makers informed about the interests and aspirations emerging in society and by promoting and supporting active and responsible citizenship; highlights, in particular, their role in implementing the EU budget and representing civil society;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Urges all stakeholders to embrace the need to increasingly place European Union principles and values at the heart of the EU funding partnerships; calls for common efforts towards stronger and further reaching transparency and accountability, in particular more continuous monitoring and control of the proper execution of the EU budget by the Commission in line with that aim, both within the EU and abroad;

Amendment 34 #

1 a. Highlights, in particular, the obligation that NGOs role in implementing the EU budget and representing civil society is carried out by a full respect for the EU financial rules and principles of the protection of the EU financial interests; stresses its strong believe that only the NGOs whose actions don’t go against the rights and values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU), and the fundamental rights under the EU Charter, should be entitled to financing from the EU public funds;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

~~2. Underlines that areas of social policy, environmental policy and development assistance require public support beyond private donations;~~deleted

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Underlines that ~~areas of social policy, environm~~the ability to seek, secure and use resources other than the EU funds or public funds on national or local levels, including foreign resources, is essential ~~policy and development assistance require public support beyond~~to the existence and operation of any NGO and an inherent part of the right to freedom of association; recalls, therefore, that NGOs should have non- mutually exclusive access to both public financial support as well as private donations at all levels;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Underlines that ~~areas of social policy, environmental policy and development assistance~~considering this role, NGOs require public support beyond private donations;

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Underlines that areas of social policy, environmental policy and development assistance may require public support beyond private donations;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Underlines that monitoring European values, Democracy, the Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights and fighting corruption and areas of social policy, environmental policy and development assistance require public support beyond private donations;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the EU has designed transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure that EU funds awarded to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are used effectively, efficiently and in line with the EU’s objectives, policies and financial rules enshrined in, among other places, the Financial Regulation, which lays down transparency as one of its guiding budgetary principles, requiring the Commission to make ~~available, in an appropriate and timely manner,~~ information on EU funds available;

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Criticizes some political groups for contracting external expertise with taxpayer money from NGOs close to political parties instead of commissioning recognized scientific expertise; calls on the Commission and OLAF to evaluate corresponding practices; in this context, criticizes the introduction of amendments stemming from NGOs and other stakeholders into the legislative process by Members of Parliament without any change in wording;

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2 b. Is concerned when the visibility provisions of EU programmes are not entirely respected; calls on the Commission to instruct its services to terminate agreements or reduce payments to beneficiaries not respecting their contractual visibility obligations;

Amendment 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Highlights that ~~volunteer and~~ civil society organisations, as described in the first paragraph, deserve the utmost respect and gratitude for the daily work they do ~~in helping others in our society, particularly if they are supporting, for example, social work, cultural engagement, sports education, emergency aid~~; recognises the millions of hours of mostly low paid or even unpaid volunteer work done by thousands of ~~volunteer~~individuals and groups across Europe on a daily basis and affirms that these ~~volunteer~~ NGOs deserve the highest praise and support;

Amendment 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Highlights that volunteer and civil society organisations deserve the utmost respect and gratitude for the daily work they do in helping others in our society, ~~particularly if they are supporting, for example, social work, cultural engagement, sports education, emergency aid;~~ recognises the millions of hours of unpaid volunteer work done by thousands of volunteers across Europe and the world on a daily basis and affirms that these volunteer NGOs deserve the highest praise and support;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Highlights that volunteer and civil society organisations deserve the utmost respect and gratitude for the daily work they do in helping others in our society, ~~particularly if they are supporting, for example,~~in all sectors including but not only social work, cultural engagement, sports education, emergency aidnd humanitarian aid, poverty eradication, human rights and gender equality; recognises the millions of hours of unpaid volunteer work done by thousands of volunteers across Europe as well as other civil society organisations on a daily basis and affirms that ~~these volunteer~~ NGOs deserve the highest praise and support;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Points out in particular the crucial role that aid agencies play in saving and improving lives on a daily basis, for example the work of the Red Cross, volunteer firefighter organisations, emergency management organisations, humanitarian aid organisations, social welfare organisations, and emphasises the importance of meeting the financial and other needs of these organisations;deleted

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Points out in particular the crucial role that aid agencies play in saving and improving lives on a daily basis, for example the work of the Red Cross, Search and rescue organisations, volunteer firefighter organisations, emergency management organisations, humanitarian aid organisations, social welfare organisations, and emphasises the importance of meeting the financial and other needs of these organisations;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recognises the important role that NGOs play as a cornerstone of society in Europe in providing much needed support to communities in various areas, including in social support, education, charity work, integration work, in providing health support for elderly and disabled people, in cultural fields, in cleaning, protecting and restoring the environment, in research and innovation and in many others;deleted

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the EU has designed transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure that EU funds ~~awarded to non-governmental organisations (NGOs)~~ are used effectively, efficiently and in line with the EU’s objectives, policies and financial rules enshrined in, among other places, the Financial Regulation, which lays down transparency as one of its guiding budgetary principles, requiring the Commission to make available, in an appropriate and timely manner, information on EU funds;

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recognises the important role that NGOs play in saving and improving lives on a daily basis, as a cornerstone of society in Europe in providing much needed support to communities in various areas, including in ~~social support,~~promoting the rule of law and fundamental rights, social work, culture and education, charity work, integration work, in providing health support for elderly and disabled people, in cultural fields, in cleaning, protecting and restoring the environment, in research and innovation and in many others;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recognises the important role that NGOs play as a ~~cornerstone~~vital element of society in Europe in providing much needed support to communities in various areas, including in social support, education, charity work, integration work, in providing health support for elderly and disabled people, in cultural fields, in cleaning, protecting and restoring the environment, in research and innovation and in many others;

Amendment 52 #

Dominique BILDE, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Joachim KUHS, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Calls for an end to the funding of NGOs undertaking search and rescue operations, which contribute to illegal migration towards European countries and facilitate human smuggling;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Points out that laws and the legislative process ~~often neglect the voices of local, regional and national NGOs, while favouring the priorities of large NGOs, that the priorities and~~should take into consideration the different needs of ~~smaller~~ local ~~and~~, regional NGOs are often ignored or have less attention paid to them, despite the fact that these smaller and regional groups often do the majority of the work; emphasises that the work of small and regional organisations is to be paid the highest respect, as they represent the true diversity and variety of volunteer work performed across Europe, and national and international NGOs;

Amendment 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Points out that laws and the legislative process often neglect the voices of local, regional and national NGOs, while favouring the priorities of large NGOs, that the priorities and needs of smaller local and regional NGOs are often ignored or have less attention paid to them, despite the fact that these smaller and regional groups often do the majority of the work; emphasises that the work of small and regional organisationsNGOs emphasises that their work is to be paid the highest respect, as they represent the true diversity and variety of volunteer work performed across Europe;

Amendment 55 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Points out that ~~laws and~~in practice the legislative processes often neglect the voices of local, regional and national NGOs, ~~while favouring the priorities of large NGOs,~~ that the priorities and needs of smaller local and regional NGOs are often ignored or have less attention paid to them, despite the fact that these smaller and regional groups often do the majority of the work; emphasises that the work of small and regional organisations is to be paid the highest respect, as they represent the true diversity and variety of volunteer work performed acrossknow the situation best and do the majority of the work on the ground; further points out that EU funding tends to favour funding for larger NGOs or funding to international organisations given also the important but burdensome administrative and reporting requirements; calls on the European Commission to further progress on simplication and streamlining, as well as increasing regranting mechanisms, so as to enable more smaller NGOs including at the local level to apply and benefit from EU funding1a. _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe; .

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Points out that laws and the legislative process often neglect the voices of local, regional and national NGOs, while favouring the priorities of large NGOs, ~~that the priorities and needs of smaller local and regional NGOs are often ignored or~~considers that often small and local NGOs do not have laccess ~~attention paid to them, despite the fact that these smaller and regional groups often do the majority of the work~~to EU funds because of the already quite cumbersome administrative procedures and obligations imposed on them; emphasises that the work of small and regional organisations is to be paid the highest respect, as they represent ~~the true diversity and variety of volunteer work performed~~an important element that reinforces diversity and variety across Europe;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Points out that national laws and ~~the~~ legislative process ~~often~~es could neglect the voices of local, regional and national NGOs, while favouring the priorities of large NGOs, that the priorities and needs of smaller local and regional NGOs are often ignored or have less attention paid to them, despite the fact that these smaller and regional ~~groups often do the majority of the work~~entities accomplish a huge amount of work and that EU funding should be accessible to them; emphasises that the work of small and regional organisations is to be paid the highest respect, as they represent the true diversity and variety of volunteer work performed across Europe and non EU countries;

Amendment 58 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Commends the crucial role of NGOs in the EU and ~~elsewhere in defending the rule of law and promoting respect for human rights~~around the world in defending and promoting human rights, the rule of law and democracy; reiterates that in countries with authoritarian or non- democratic regimes, ~~NGOs often represent the last line of defence of democracy; insists on the importance of adequate EU funding for NGOs active in these fields~~whose aim is to shrink civil society space and silence dissenting voices, NGOs often represent the last line of defence of democracy; is alarmed that some governments have adopted legislation based, inter alia, on security, counter-terrorism and the fight against foreign interference, that imposes discriminatory obligations on human rights NGOs and their workers, stigmatises, restricts or bans their activities, freeze their assets, deters their donors from contributing funds or deprives them from access to funding;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Commends the ~~crucial~~important role ofthat NGOs ~~in the EU and elsewhere in defending the rule of law and promoting~~play in third countries in promoting democratic values and respect for human rights and democracy; reiterates that in countries with authoritarian or non- democratic regimes, NGOs ~~often~~may represent the last line of defence of democracy; insists on the importance of access to adequate EU funding for NGOs active in these fields;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the EU has designed transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure that EU funds awarded to interest representatives, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are used effectively, efficiently and in line with ~~the EU’s~~EU values, objectives, policies and financial rules enshrined in, among other places, the Financial Regulation, which lays down transparency as one of its guiding budgetary principles, requiring the Commission to make available, in an appropriate and timely manner, information on EU funds;

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Commends the crucial role of NGOs in ~~the~~ EU and ~~elsewhere~~non EU countries in defending the rule of law and promoting respect for human rights and democracy; reiterates that in countries with authoritarian or non-democratic regimes, NGOs often represent the last line of defence of democracy~~; insists on the importance of adequate~~ and are in need of support; calls the Commission to consider safeguards clauses and mechanisms in that respect; insists on the imperative for the Commission and Member States to truly protect NGOs and the public fundamental freedoms of our society, such as freedom of association and expression, and stresses the importance of securing adequate and transparent EU funding for NGOs a~~ctive in these field~~nd entities;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Commends the crucial role of NGOs in the EU and elsewhere in defending the rule of law and promoting respect for human rights and democracy; reiterates that in countries with authoritarian or non-democratic regimes, NGOs often represent the last line of defence of democracy that authoritarian regimes worldwide try to silence also through fatally restrictive requirements and obligations; insists on the importance of adequate EU funding and protection for NGOs active in these fields;

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Commends the crucial role of NGOs in the EU and elsewhere in defending the rule of law, fighting corruption and promoting respect for human rights and democracy; reiterates that in countries with authoritarian or non- democratic regimes, NGOs often represent the last line of defence of democracy; insists on the importance of adequate EU funding for NGOs active in these fields; 1a; _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe.

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Commends the crucial role of NGOs in the EU and elsewhere in defending the rule of law, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights and democracy; reiterates that in countries with authoritarian or non- democratic regimes, NGOs often represent the last line of defence of democracy; insists on the importance of adequate EU funding for NGOs active in these fields;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Remains deeply concerned by threats to and unjustified attacks on NGOs in some Member States, including by proposing and adopting legislation that imposes discriminatory obligations on NGOs that restrict or ban their activities, and through online and offline intimidation and harassment against their staff, negative public statements and smear campaigns, verbal threats, and legal and physical attacks; stresses that some NGOs also face excessive administrative controls or audits, politically motivated funding cuts and overly strict legal requirements for their formation and registration; insists that NGOs must be protected and should receive adequate funding and support;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is convinced that ~~public~~financial transparency and accountability is vital for NGOs ~~to showcase~~and entities, their valuable work~~, be~~ and recogni~~sed and build their credibility~~tion; believes that European citizens have to be assured that the EU knows exactly how all EU funds are used, this for the credibility of NGOs, any other interest representative or the European project itself; is therefore concerned that there is a lack of information, data and control on who or what we grand European Union funds to despite existing transparency requirements, as observed in past discharge procedures;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is convinced that public transparency is vital for NGOs to showcase their valuable work, ~~be recognised and build their credibility~~except in cases when NGOs operate in full compliance with EU values, EU financial rules and in full respect for the EU Charter of fundamental rights but operate in democratically challenged environments;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is convinced that public transparency is vital for all for profit or for non-profit organisations, including NGOs, to showcase their valuable work, be recognised and build their credibility;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is convinced that public transparency is vital for NGOs to showcase their valuable work, be recognised and build their credibility; reminds that transparency and accountability should not be used to curtail the space for independent civil society and to silence critical voices, and that all requirements and obligations imposed should always comply with international and human rights law, in particular regarding the exercise of civic freedoms, remaining strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Is convinced that public transparency is also vital for NGOs to showcase their valuable work, be recognised and build their credibility;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the EU is one of the largest financial backers of civil society organisations1-A; _________________ 1-A European Commission (2020), Joint communication to the European Parliament and the Council, EU Action plan on human rights and democracy 2020-2024

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Recognises that NGOs in Europe play a role in filling the gap that cannot be filled by legislation or political work, particularly in areas of social support for example, for the homeless, orphaned children, elderly care, and areas in need of socio-economic help etc.; notes that NGOs play a crucial role in fulfilling important supportive roles where governments may be overwhelmed in terms of financial, human resources, or administrative capacities, and concludes that some NGOs thereby help governments fulfil their duty to the population and help contribute to governments being able to fulfil their role.

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Applauds the activity of NGOs in areas of conflict in ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches the civilian population and those in need in a rapid and effective manner; recognizes the importance of NGOs in ensuring that the EU, as the largest donor of development aid in the world, continues to contribute to promoting stability, overcoming poverty and advancing global development.

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Is of the opinion that the alleged corruption case referred to as Qatargate and the role certain NGOs played in it could have been prevented through the consistent enforcement of existing transparency requirements and an obligation for NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and their internal structures; notes with concern that the relevant NGOs have profited from EU funding since 2015; considers it unacceptable that the use of funds and transfers to other organisations are not entirely traceable; warns of the danger that EU taxpayers’ money could ultimately be used within corrupt circles; emphasises the importance of ‘final beneficiary transparency’ for EU NGO funds;deleted

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Is of the opinion that the alleged corruption case referred to as Qatargate and the role certain NGOs played in it could have been prevented through the consistent enforcement of existing transparency requirements and an obligation for NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and their internal structures; notes with concern that the relevant NGOs have profited from EU funding since 2015; considers it unacceptable that the use of funds and transfers to other organisations are not entirely traceable; warns of, through the consistent enforcement of existing transparency requirements, corruption, as well as the danger that EU taxpayers’ money could ~~ultimately~~ be used within corrupt circles~~; emphasises the importance of ‘final beneficiary transparency’ for EU NGO funds~~, can be avoided;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Is of the opinion that the alleged corruption case referred to as Qatargate and the role certain NGOs played in it could have been prevented through the consistent enforcement of existing transparency requirements and an obligation for NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and their internal structures; notes with concern that the relevant NGOs have profited from EU funding since 2015; considers it unacceptable that the use of fundsCondemns the increase in exploitation of EU funds against EU principles and values, the use and transfers to other organisations that are not entirely traceable; warns of the danger that EU ~~taxpayers’ money~~funds could ultimately be used within corrupt circles and be subject to fraud and irregularities, foreign interference or entrism; emphasises also the importance of ‘final beneficiary transparency’ for EU ~~NGO~~ funds;

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. ~~Is of the opinion that the alleged~~Acknowledges the importance of transparency and accountability in preventing corruption cases like the one referred to as Qatargate and th~~e role certain NGOs played in it could~~at it may have been prevented through the consistent enforcement of existing transparency requirements and an obligation for NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and their internal structures; notes with concern that the relevant NGOs have profited from EU funding since 2015; considers it unacceptable that the use of funds and transfers to other organisations are not entirely traceable; warns of the danger that EU taxpayers’ money could ultimately be used within corrupt circlesrecommended by the Parliament; emphasises the importance of ‘final beneficiary transparency’ ~~for EU NGO funds~~in every type of financial management in the EU;

Amendment 77 #

Arnaud DANJEAN, François-Xavier BELLAMY

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Is of the opinion that the alleged corruption case referred to as Qatargate and the role certain NGOs played in it, which aroused clear public discontent with the activities of NGOs, could have been prevented through the consistent enforcement of existing transparency requirements and an obligation for NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and their internal structures; notes with concern that the relevant NGOs have profited from EU funding since 2015; considers it unacceptable that the use of funds and transfers to other organisations are not entirely traceable; warns of the danger that EU taxpayers’ money could ultimately be used within corrupt circles; emphasises the importance of ‘final beneficiary transparency’ for EU NGO funds;

Amendment 78 #

Dominique BILDE, Jean-Paul GARRAUD, Joachim KUHS, Matteo ADINOLFI, Gunnar BECK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Regrets that some NGOs supported financially by the EU promote values that are contrary to those of freedom and democracy; calls to cease all funding of NGOs with links to Islamism and Islamist-linked organisations;

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Recalls that NGOs operating on European territory are required to comply with the national law applicable in each Member State concerned by their activity, with Union law and with international law;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

~~B. whereas only the funds directly awarded to NGOs have been subject to monitoring and reporting by the Commission so far;~~deleted

Amendment 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Recalls that the following findings and recommendations are based on the conclusions of the transparency and accountability study and address further weaknesses concerning the handling of EU funds by NGOsPoints out that strengthening the transparency requirements for interest representatives and entities, including NGOs, could serve the purpose of tracing of tracing foreign interferences; underlines that these requirements, however, should not create burdensome procedures and should not stigmatise legitimate foreign funding;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Recalls that the following findings and recommendations are based on the conclusions of the transparency and accountability study and address further weaknesses concerning the ~~handling of EU funds by NGOs;~~ transparency of the use of EU funds by the European Commission1a; _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Civil Society Europe.

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Warns that it is of utmost importance to ensure that EU transparency and accountability obligations do not put final beneficiaries of EU funds at risk, or in any way threaten the existence of NGOs and people who work for them, for example due to the use of information by authoritarian regimes to attack them; reiterates the importance to not impose a heavy bureaucratic burden on the smaller organisations; calls on the Commission to ensure current or future EU transparency and accountability requirements for NGOs and entities remain strictly necessary and proportionate to the specific aims pursued and the size of the organisation;

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Emphasizes that the purpose of this INI report is not to disparage NGOs in general or their work, but rather to make improvements in the control and monitoring, definition and regulation of NGOs with the goal of transparency, the responsible use of EU taxpayers money, the fairness of distribution of European funds, and improvement of the NGO ecosystem in Europe.

Amendment 86 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2

NGO ~~definition~~s and entities in the context of budgetary control

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Reiterates the fundamental significance of public ~~trust and~~ support for NGOs; acknowledges that the terms used to describe these organisations are subject to different legal and public interpretations;

Amendment 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Reiterates the fundamental significance of public trust and support for NGOs; acknowledges that the terms used to describe these organisations are subject to different legal and public interpretations; that hugely varies among Member states

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas ~~only~~ the funds directly awarded to NGOs have been subject to monitoring and reporting by the Commission ~~so far~~;

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Emphasises that the term NGO is a broad umbrella term embracing many different kinds of ~~organisation: from large international organ~~entities: encourages the co-legislat~~ion~~ors to small regional or local ones, from organisations run mostly by professionals to those consisting mostly of volunteers; highlights that the subject matter covered by NGOs and the method of implementation can also vary substantially, for instance, some NGOs may do work that is highly theoretical (for example the work of some think-tanks), or political (for example politically affiliated NGOs) whereas others may be verfind an agreement on a harmonised approach to NGOs and entities at EU level, which would considerably help European budgetary control procedures, especially in the case of cross border associations; reiterates it is most important to ensure transparency hands-on (for example the daily work that firefighting NGOs engage in across Europe); emphasises, therefore, that different types of NGOs should be differentiated when analysing levels of transparency and efficiency, and that a better definition of NGOs should be established at the EU level accountability for all entities that are granted EU funds; underlines that the databases registered should be confidential and accessible to the European budgetary authority upon specific request and without limit of the content and of time retention;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Emphasises that the term NGO is a broad umbrella term embracing many different kinds of organisation: from large international organisations to small regional or local ones, from organisations run mostly by professionals to those consisting mostly of volunteers; highlights that the subject matter covered by NGOs and the covering very diverse subject matters and using different methods of implementation can also vary substantially, for instance, some NGOs may do work that is highly theoretical (for example the work of some think-tanks), or political (for example politically affiliated NGOs) whereas others may be very hands-on (for example the daily work that firefighting NGOs engage in across Europe); emphasises, therefore, that different types of NGOs should be differentiated when analysing levels of transparency and efficiency, and that a better definition of NGOs should be established at; understands that this diversity makes it difficult to have a common definition of NGOs within the EU ~~level~~;

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Emphasises that the term NGO is a broad umbrella term embracing many different kinds of organisation: from large international organisations to small regional or local ones, from organisations run mostly by professionals to those consisting mostly of volunteers; highlights that the subject matter covered by NGOs and the method of implementation can also vary substantially, for instance, some NGOs may do work that is highly theoretical (for example the work of some think-tanks), or political (for example politically affiliated NGOs) whereas others may be very hands-on (for example the daily work that firefighting NGOs engage in across Europe); emphasises, therefore, that different types of NGOs should be differentiated when analysing levels of transparency and efficiency, and that a better definition of NGOs should be established at the EU level; , or political, whereas others may be very hands-on; emphasises, therefore, that any additional transparency-related obligations must take into account the resources, size and staff available to an organisation, as well as the scope of their activities1a; _________________ 1a Amendment suggested by Transparency International EU.

Amendment 93 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Emphasises that the term NGO is a broad umbrella term embracing many different kinds of organisation: from large international organisations to small regional or local ones, from organisations run mostly by p~~rofessional~~aid workers to those consisting mostly of volunteers; highlights that the subject matter covered by NGOs and the method of implementation can also vary substantially, for instance, some NGOs may do work that is highly theoretical (for example the work of some think-tanks), or political (for example politically affiliated NGOs) whereas others may be very hands-on (for example the daily work that firefighting NGOs engage in across Europe); emphasises, therefore, that ~~different types of NGOs should be differentiated when analysing levels of transparency and efficiency, and that a better~~a better harmonisation of the definition of NGOs should be established at the EU level;

Amendment 94 #

Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12a. Emphasises that, at EU level, politically active non-governmental organisations should be put into their own category; points out that a group could essentially be a political or non-political actor; stresses that this approach to grouping could help people appreciate and evaluate more precisely the role of each organisation and its impact in social and political debate; stresses, furthermore, that such a separation would help citizens and decision-makers to identify and understand better the roles of the drivers of these organisations and the effects on their activities;

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. An NGO should not be financed 100% by the state and Commission in order to be considered an NGO.

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

Amendment 97 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Reiterates the call for a common definition of an NGO made in the recommendations from the 2021 Commission discharge resolution13 ; calls for a common definition of an NGO at EU level, in particular for NGOs receiving EU funding; is of the opinion that this definition should provide minimum common conditions for defining an NGO; considers that such minimum conditions must include the form of an organisation, the objectives it pursues, its level of formal or institutional existence, the accountability of its structures to its members or donors, its level of independence from government, other public authorities, political parties or commercial organisations, and the commercial or professional objectives it pursues on behalf of its membersWelcomes the proposal for a definition within the Financial regulation; _________________ 13 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0137.

Amendment 99 #