The European Commission has granted multi-million-dollar grants to environmental organisations active in anti-carbon energy processes, as well as political campaigns against trade agreements and the activities of European companies “ Welt am Sonntag writes, citing previously classified papers in her possession.
"Brussels officials coordinated activists' actions in the smallest detail. Their aim was to convince the public that EU climate policy was right. For this purpose, millions of euros have been allocated from the budget", notes the publication.
Thus, according to the newspaper, among the recipients of the funds is the British NGO ClientEarth, which received EUR 350 000 to launch legal proceedings against German coal plants to increase the "financial and legal risk" for their operators.
Another organization is Friends of the Earth based in the Netherlands. It besides received backing with a task from the European Commission to fight the Mercosur Agreement, a free trade area between the EU and respective South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay), despite the fact that EC officials promoted the agreement in parallel.
It was clarified that the contracts were signed in 2022 and that backing appeared in 2023. Individual NGOs received up to EUR 700,000. At the same time, the agreements contained circumstantial requirements for activists, specified as the number of appeals to MEPs and publications on social networks.
According to Monika Holmayer, a typical of the Christian and Social Union (CSU) in the European Parliament, the European Commission's actions rise doubts.
"I was peculiarly upset by destructive plans in which farms and coal power plants were to be forced to cease their activities through judicial processes and besides strict reporting requirements. It is sad that the European Commission's audit authorities have not stopped financing despite the doubtful objectives of the programmes," said the CSU MP.
According to the newspaper, backing has been provided under the LIFE programme, whereby the European Commission spends around EUR 15 million annually for the administrative needs of NGOs. Negotiations on next year's budget are presently underway.
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EC lobbyed for environmental organisations, writing media
