At the inaugural meeting of the European Parliament’s new Scrutiny Working Group on NGO Funding, proceedings were briefly disrupted when MEPs from the Socialists and Greens tried to prevent the session from starting.

Carlo Fidanza, Head of the Fratelli d’Italia Delegation and ECR co-rapporteur in the working group, criticised the incident as an effort to derail legitimate investigative work. “This afternoon, the left wing in the European Parliament staged a pathetic little drama to try to obstruct the start of the working group on NGO transparency. Their interventions were pure obstructionism, delivered for the cameras, so they could tell their vast network of associations that they are bravely defending against an imaginary right-wing witch hunt against civil society”, he said.

Fidanza underlined that the working group’s task is both necessary and overdue.

“The reality is very clear: over these weeks we are scrutinising dozens of contracts signed in the previous legislature by the European Commission or its executive agencies under the Green Deal. And we can already confirm what has been evident for months: EU funds — paid for by European taxpayers — were channelled to ultra-environmentalist NGOs to put pressure on MEPs and, in some cases, even on other departments within the Commission itself, in order to push through some of the most absurd green rules produced in the Timmermans era”, he stated.

Fidanza stressed that political theatre will not deter the ECR from demanding transparency and accountability.

“Despite the evident nervousness on the left, we will continue our work to establish exactly what has happened in recent years — and to ensure that such non-transparent practices cannot be repeated in future”, he concluded.

The ECR Group emphasised that the working group’s mandate is to ensure proper oversight of how EU taxpayers’ money is spent, including in cases where activist organisations have lobbied MEPs or Commission departments using EU-funded resources.

Despite the commotion, the working group — tasked with examining transparency and oversight in EU-funded NGO activities — proceeded with its agenda.