Europäischer Rechnungshof - European Court of Auditors
(Press briefing) EU funding for NGOs – how transparent actually is it?
Press invitation
for 7 April 2025
EU funding for NGOs – how transparent actually is it?
- Online press briefing: Monday 7 April at 11.00 a.m. CEST
- Publication: Same day at 5.00 p.m. CEST
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) would like to invite you to an online press briefing on its upcoming special report on the transparency of EU funding granted to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – at 11.00 a.m. CEST on Monday 7 April 2025.
The purpose of the briefing is to provide a detailed overview of the audit, and to put its conclusions and recommendations into context. There will also be an opportunity to discuss the report with ECA Member Laima Andrikienė and representatives of the audit team.
RSVP: Please let us know by 1.00 p.m. on Friday 4 April whether you intend to take part in the online briefing; we will then send you detailed instructions on how to connect. To allow for an informed discussion, confirmed participants can receive an embargoed copy of the report and press release upon request ahead of the briefing. Both documents will be published on the ECA website at 5.00 p.m. on Monday 7 April.
Background
NGOs and other civil society organisations empower citizens’ participation in EU democratic policy-making through ongoing dialogue, which must be transparent. To hold public decision-makers to account, citizens must know not only to whom and for what purpose EU funds are awarded, but also how they are used and whether fund recipients respect EU values. Public interest in scaling up transparency requirements for NGOs has increased since the “Qatargate” scandal in 2022, and recently peaked as the issue has once again become a matter of political debate.
The auditors assessed the transparency of EU funding granted to NGOs in EU internal policies such as cohesion, research, migration, and the environment for the 2021-2023 period, as well as whether the NGOs adhered to EU values. The audit examines EU programmes such as the European Social Fund Plus, Horizon Europe, AMIF and LIFE, and looks at the situation in different member states. It follows the ECA’s 2018 audit report on EU funding granted to NGOs under the bloc’s external policy and the 2024 audit report on the EU’s transparency register, the aim being to provide a full picture.
Contact:
ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu
Damijan Fišer: M: (+352) 621 552 224