The European Commission has acknowledged that grant money disbursed through its flagship environmental programme, LIFE, was, in a number of cases, used by NGOs to engage in “specific advocacy actions and undue lobbying activities.” The admission, contained in an official Commission statement on the 2025 – 2027 LIFE Programme, follows repeated pressure from right-wing parties within the European Parliament to investigate how taxpayer funds were being deployed under the scheme.
LIFE, originally established in 1992 and reauthorised in 2021, serves as the EU’s primary funding instrument for environmental, climate, and energy-related objectives. It supports a range of actors including civil society organisations, local authorities, research foundations, and private enterprises in EU member states. Operating grants under LIFE are awarded to non-governmental organisations to support, among other things, governance, communication, and “stakeholder involvement” in environmental and climate policy.
According to the Commission’s new statement, these funds have in some instances been misapplied:
“The Commission has recognised that in some cases work programmes submitted by the NGOs and annexed to the operating grant agreements contained specific advocacy actions and undue lobbying activities.”
This is the first time the Commission has admitted such misuse in formal language, and it is now moving to introduce additional safeguards.
The Commission stated that existing guidance bars beneficiaries from including “activities that should not be included when receiving funding as part of policy and legislation development, implementation, monitoring and enforcement.” These activities include “lobbying that targets specific policies or MEPs.”
The Commission claims to have tightened procedures around grant-making. The 2025 – 2027 multiannual work programme will, it says, include new protections to prevent operating grants from requiring “specific and detailed activities that directly target Union institutions or their staff or members.” In parallel, the Commission is reviewing transparency arrangements related to EU grant recipients and their obligations under the EU transparency register.
Members of the LIFE evaluation committee will also face stricter scrutiny. All evaluators are now required to sign declarations confirming the absence of conflicts of interest before assessing any proposals. The EU agency in charge of administering LIFE funds, CINEA, will additionally “review the selection procedure for members of the LIFE evaluation committee” to bolster transparency.
The Commission stated it is working closely with the European Court of Auditors, which is preparing final recommendations on how to improve oversight and transparency in NGO funding.
The EPP Group, which had raised concerns over NGO misuse of EU funds, characterised the Commission’s statement as a vindication of its position. Peter Liese, the group’s environmental spokesman, said:
“We strongly support the LIFE programme and recognise the very important role of NGOs. However, there have been clear instances of misconduct by some individual Commission officials and some NGOs. We therefore welcome the European Commission’s statement acknowledging the issue of undue influence.”
Sander Smit, MEP, was more explicit:
“The Commission has finally admitted that, ‘in some cases, the work programmes submitted by NGOs and annexed to the operating grant agreements contained specific advocacy actions and undue lobbying activities.’ Today’s admission confirms and validates the EPP Group’s concerns about these undue lobbying practices.”
The group has pressed the Commission to prohibit grant-funded NGOs from targeting MEPs and EU institutions with lobbying campaigns, and the Commission now appears to have agreed – at least in principle.
It is unclear from the Commission’s statement which NGOs were involved in the misuse of funds, or how widespread the issue may be. No names were disclosed, and no mention was made of disciplinary measures or potential recovery of funds.
The LIFE programme has been one of the largest and most politically sensitive channels of funding for climate and environmental NGOs in Europe. Its annual budget for 2021 – 2027 stands at approximately €5.4 billion. While most grants are awarded competitively and project-based, operating grants to civil society groups, especially those with explicit policy aims, have drawn increased scrutiny from MEPs, particularly over issues of transparency, political neutrality, and accountability.
Despite the new commitments, no external review has yet been published detailing the scope of lobbying activities undertaken with Commission funding. Nor has the Commission clarified whether any of the organisations involved remain eligible for further LIFE support under the 2025 – 2027 programme.
For organisations critical of EU climate and environmental policy, alongside the broader question of public funding of NGOs, the revelations are likely to reinforce calls for more rigorous audits and stricter conditions on funding. For NGOs, the political fallout may result in new reporting obligations and constraints on policy-related advocacy.
Whether these measures will mark a lasting shift in EU policy or serve as a temporary concession to political pressure remains to be seen. But the precedent now exists: the European Commission has admitted that taxpayer money was used to finance lobbying against the very institutions distributing it.