Question for written answer E-002088/2021 to the Commission Rule 138 Jean-Paul Garraud (ID), (ID), (ID), Jean-Lin Lacapelle (ID), André Rougé (ID), Joëlle Mélin (ID), Carlo Fidanza (ECR), (ID), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), (ID), Hélène Laporte (ID), (ID), (ID), (ID), Herve Juvin (ID)

Subject: Grants awarded to advocacy groups

The Financial Transparency System indicates that the organisation Européens Sans Frontières (Europeans Without Borders) received a total of EUR 124 574 from the Commission over the course of 2015, 2016 and 2018.

Founded in 2015 by Philippe Cayla, this politicised organisation campaigns for residents of a Member State who are not nationals of that country to have the right to vote in all elections. It also advocates the creation of an EU passport so that migrants can move freely in Europe and be able to vote in municipal and EU elections.

While it is morally questionable for a publicly-funded organisation to openly take a political stance, the fact that the President of this same organisation is also the President of Euronews Development is even more dubious given that it is a subsidiary of Euronews, a pan-European media outlet that receives a EUR 25 million grant every year, which equates to 75% of the Commission’s Multimedia Actions budget.

At a time when Parliament is debating the role of lobbyists and the response to calls from European citizens for more transparency in the functioning of EU institutions, does the Commission not think that such conduct is contributing to Europeans’ legitimate distrust of the EU?

Supporters1

1 This question is supported by Members other than the authors: (ID), (ID), (ID), (ID), Charlie Weimers (ECR), (ID), (ID), Rob Rooken (ECR), Robert Roos (ECR), Jorge Buxadé Villalba (ECR), Mazaly Aguilar (ECR), Hermann Tertsch (ECR), Margarita de la Pisa Carrión (ECR), Angel Dzhambazki (ECR), Andrey Slabakov (ECR)

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