The money that environmental NGOs receive from the European Union can no longer be used for advocacy and lobbying work, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
Three letters sent by the European Commission's agency in charge of the Green Deal project CINEA – seen by Politico – mention grant money from the EU's environmental project fund LIFE, which earmarks €5.4 billion of funding between 2021 and 2027.
Organisations that receive this money include WWF, Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth, and many smaller charities.
According to one of the letters, active lobbying activities that target EU officials and institutions (which were previously considered acceptable) will no longer be eligible for funding, Politico reports.
Less assertive communication
These activities include "organising meetings or providing advocacy material" to specific EU institutions or officials, or "identifying specific members or officials of an institution to evaluate or describe their positions, or to discuss specific political content or outcome," the letter said. They claimed that these activities "may entail a reputational risk for the Union."
However, NGOs that are funded by LIFE would still be allowed to use less assertive communication methods, such as producing "policy briefs or other research papers," and holding "workshops, conferences, trainings or awareness raising campaigns."
They must review their work streams for the year 2024 and remove any activities that would be considered advocacy or lobbying.
