It has been disclosed that the EU help fund a wide range of NGOs including NSPCC, One World Action, Action Aid, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and many more.
It is important to know that the EU will only fund activities that 'further the aims of the EU Agenda'. While this may well be quite reasonable (why, indeed, should they fund those that are not supporters of their aims) it is quite unreasonable that this funding should be kept secret. It is important that we are aware of the implicit pressure placed on these NGOs to support the EU Agenda if they wish to continue to receive this funding. 'He who pays the piper calls the tune'.
16 May 2008 From Ashley Mote MEP see also blog Devilskitchen for more
A recent
exchange of letters with the CEO of the National Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children established that the society had recently received £20,000
from the EU, in return for which the NSPCC has publicly supported the Lisbon
Treaty.
Last week, however, the European Commission appeared to deny such a payment. At
least it chose not to admit it.
In answer to
my question….
UK charity supports Lisbon Treaty after EU cash injection
Does the Commission not agree that the donation of EU money to the UK's National
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was an error of judgment,
however worthy the cause, when it was followed by an apparently innocent
adventure into the political arena by its CEO in support of the Lisbon Treaty?
How much has the NSPCC received from the EU, either directly or indirectly, in
each of the previous ten years?
…the
Commission has replied:
“The Commission does not agree with the Honourable Member. Applications for
funding are assessed on their merits under a rigorous procedure.
The EU co-financed four projects proposed by the National Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) through the Daphne programme.
The amounts of the grants were:
€50,282 in 1997
€59,743 in 1997
€97,919 in 1998
€52,811 in 1999.”
This reply ignores the £20,000 the NSPCC admitted receiving last year.
So another letter has gone to the CEO of the NSPCC:
“Dear Dame Mary,
You will recall my letter of 28 March about the NSPCC’s support for the Lisbon
Treaty which followed a letter from you dated 19 March in which you confirmed
receipt last year by the NSPCC of £20,000 in EU funding.
In view of the considerable public interest in this matter I had already put
down a question to the European Commission asking for details of its funding to
the NSPCC. Somewhat to my surprise, I have just received a reply from Mr Barrot
the Commissioner concerned claiming that you had received the following amounts:
“€50,282 in 1997
€59,743 in 1997
€97,919 in 1998
€52,811 in 1999
As you can see, he makes no reference to the £20,000 provided last year. This
clearly suggests that the 2007 donation was made by an executive agency or NGO
acting as an intermediary for the EU. This, in turn, raises the question of
other similar donations from the same source or sources acting on behalf of the
EU in previous years.
As you must be aware transparency is not one of the EUs most noticeable
characteristics. May I therefore ask you for details of donations received from
or via intermediaries acting on behalf of the EU for each of the years from 1999
to 2007.
Yours sincerely
Ashley Mote MEP”
Watch this
space.