NGOs warn that EU’s foreign agents law could ‘silence critical voices’

Civil society groups have urged the European Commission not to table new rules that would require NGOs to disclose if their funding comes from outside the EU in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday (3 May).

In the letter, a group of more than 200 civil society groups warned that similar laws have “significantly curtailed the space for independent civil society and been deployed as a tool to silence critical voices”.

The Commission is expected to propose a new ‘Defence of Democracy Package’ later this month that will set out a series of reforms to improve transparency in the EU institutions and combat foreign interference in the wake of the Qatargate bribery scandal.

The Commission has spoken about tabling a new law ‘to introduce common transparency and accountability standards for interest representation services paid for or directed from outside the EU, to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market, and to protect the EU democratic sphere from covert outside interference’.

The status of NGOs and civil society groups has been drawn into the Qatargate scandal because of the role of Fight Impunity, an organisation founded by former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, which is believed to have been used as a front for illicit payments to Panzeri and others from the likes of Qatar and Morocco.

Earlier this year, Monika Hohlmeier, the European People’s Party chair of the Parliament’s Budgetary Control committee, called for the creation of an “EU equivalent to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act [FARA]” covering lobbyists and NGOs in a bid to increase control and transparency.

The US FARA legislation requires all third country politicians and their lobbying representatives to register and detail their work with US lawmakers, including any formal contract and fees, on a publicly accessible website.

The EPP has also called for comprehensive financial pre-screening of NGOs before they are listed on the EU’s transparency register, and for contractual agreements between the European Commission and NGOs to be published.

However, civil society groups contend that the US FARA rules only require registration for organisations if they are under the direct control of a foreign entity. Consequently, law firms, lobbying firms, public relations firms and tourism agencies account for the vast majority of filings, and FARA is almost never applied to civil society association.

A law focused on NGOs could have “unintended negative consequences, hindering civil society organisations’ ability to fulfil their role as defenders of democracy in Europe and beyond. It will also limit the EU’s capacity to support civil society at risk and human rights defenders globally,” the letter added.

The proposal for “a legal instrument introducing common transparency and accountability standards for interest representation services directed or paid for from outside the EU” should not be pursued, state the NGOs, adding that “a fundamental rights impact assessment should be considered ahead of any legislative proposal”.

The EU executive has itself previously expressed concerns about domestic laws in Hungary and elsewhere that require foreign agents’ registration and financial disclosure. In some states, labelling an organisation as receiving support from abroad risks stigmatising such actors.

“There are reasons why the Commission has criticised foreign agent acts abroad and why they took Hungary to court over a similar domestic law,” Nick Aiossa, deputy director of Transparency International EU, told EURACTIV.

“It is simply reckless the Commission refuses to do their homework and fully assess the real risks this type of legislation poses to civil society and journalists,” he said.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]