The centrist Europen People’s Party (EPP) has once again obstructed transparency by blocking the European Conservative and Reformist’s (ECR) proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into dubious NGO contracts that allegedly influenced the approval of the Green Deal. This move mirrors their previous rejection of an initiative by the Patriots’ to suspend and reassess the Green Deal following the Frans Timmermans scandal.
The ECR formally called for this inquiry on Tuesday, February 11, with Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) backing. However, despite this support, the EPP’s whip sent an internal email to all party members urging them not to endorse the initiative. This contradicts the EPP-led budgetary control committee’s recent announcement to conduct an internal audit of all NGO contracts, yet they still refuse to authorize a dedicated inquiry committee.
This development further confirms suspicions that the EPP’s commitment to uncovering the truth is superficial at best. Their repeated refusal to support investigations into financial mismanagement, such as previous opposition to scrutinizing EU agricultural subsidies and consulting contracts with politically connected firms, further illustrates a pattern of evasion and lack of transparency. Rather than seeking genuine accountability, their actions suggest maintaining appearances while avoiding meaningful scrutiny.
The scandal under investigation revolves around accusations that the European Commission, under the leadership of Frans Timmermans, used public funds to finance environmental NGOs to push its climate agenda. In other words, there was a structural manipulation of the legislative process using European taxpayers’ money, subsidizing groups that then lobbied in favor of the Green Deal in Brussels. This undermines the institutional neutrality that should govern the Commission and erodes public trust in the functioning of the European Union.
Recent reports, including an investigation published in europeanconservative.com, have revealed that at least €700,000 was allocated to NGOs to promote stricter regulations in the agricultural sector, such as reducing the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, as well as imposing more rigorous quotas on carbon emissions for producers. These measures have raised concerns among farmers, who argue that they increase production costs and limit their competitiveness in the European market.
Other figures suggest that over €4 billion has been channeled into entities that promote environmental measures aligned with the Green Deal in recent years. Beneficiaries include organizations such as Greenpeace and WWF, which have received millions in subsidies without apparent oversight.
The EPP, through its coordinator in the budgetary control committee, Tomáš Zdechovský, explicitly asked his 187 colleagues not to support the investigation, arguing that an internal audit was already underway and that a special committee would only duplicate efforts. This excuse is, at best, a mockery. The difference between an internal audit and a parliamentary inquiry committee is clear: the former is controlled by the accused body, while the latter would allow independent scrutiny with access to key documents and public testimonies.
The EPP’s decision to boycott this investigation calls into question its role as an alleged guarantor of democratic integrity in Europe. It is not the first time that the EPP has aligned itself with the EU’s bureaucratic status quo instead of defending the interests of European citizens. A few weeks ago, they also blocked the Patriots’ initiative to suspend and reassess the Green Deal following revelations of political manipulation by Timmermans and his allies.
While the EPP refuses to allow an independent investigation into the use of taxpayers’ money, the left in Parliament has countered by proposing to extend scrutiny to funds allocated to industrial and commercial associations, arguing that corporate influence on policymaking should also be examined.
