MCC Brussels has gone on the offensive following its recent suspension from the European Union’s Transparency Register.
The organisation, one of the most active conservative think tanks in the EU capital, has published an extensive document responding to the allegations raised during the investigation conducted by the Transparency Register Secretariat and questioning the consistency with which Brussels applies its own rules.
The suspension was announced last week and limits MCC Brussels’ access to certain institutional mechanisms linked to the European institutions. According to the organization, the decision is not related to any alleged concealment of funding or breaches of transparency requirements, but rather to a disagreement over the application of the so-called “single registration principle.”
The dispute originated from a complaint filed in 2025 by the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory, which challenged the financial information provided by MCC Brussels in its register entry. However, according to documents now released by the organization, the Secretariat later acknowledged that MCC had not breached the rules concerning the declaration of its accounts or the identification of its funding sources.
The dispute ultimately focused on a different issue. The Transparency Register argues that MCC Brussels and the Hungarian foundation Mathias Corvinus Collegium should be listed under a single joint registration. MCC Brussels rejects that interpretation, maintaining that the two entities are separate legal organizations with different activities and independent structures.
The most significant development this week is the comparison with other organizations listed in the Transparency Register itself.
MCC Brussels claims to have identified numerous cases in which related entities maintain separate registrations without being suspended. Among the examples cited are international NGO networks such as WWF, BirdLife, Caritas, Friends of the Earth and ILGA, whose various national chapters are registered individually in Brussels. The organization also points to entities such as Open Society, Mozilla, Velux, and Schwarz Group, the owner of Lidl and Kaufland, which operate through comparable corporate structures.
According to MCC Brussels, if the interpretation adopted by the Register is correct, the issue would not be limited to its own case. The organization argues that a strict application of the single registration principle could potentially call into question hundreds or even thousands of registrations currently active within the European transparency system.
The think tank also states that it presented some of these examples to the Secretariat during the proceedings and alleges an uneven application of the rules.
Brussels has so far not publicly responded to these accusations and maintains that the suspension results from the application of the existing regulations. MCC Brussels has announced that it will appeal the decision.
Javier Villamor is a Spanish journalist and analyst. Based in Brussels, he covers NATO and EU affairs at europeanconservative.com. Javier has over 17 years of experience in international politics, defense, and security. He also works as a consultant providing strategic insights into global affairs and geopolitical dynamics.
