EUR 7 billion for pseudo-ecologists in the EU?
Responsible for EU Green Deal Frans Timmermans
He can stand trialEm for embezzlement!
Frans Timmermans, erstwhile Vice-President of the European Commission liable for Green Governance, together with erstwhile Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius faces serious accusations of illegal financing of NGOs.
The European Taxation Association (TAE) has lodged an authoritative complaint with the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office and the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Luxembourg, demanding the initiation of an investigation into the non-transparent and possibly unlawful allocation of EU funds between 2019 and 2024.
According to TAE, EUR 7 billion of taxpayers' money was allocated without appropriate control, and these funds were to be utilized for illegal interference with the European Parliament and for litigation against private companies.
The Dutch paper De Telegraaf revealed the existence of secret contracts between the European Commission and “green” NGOs, which were part of the “secret lobbying scheme”.
These organisations received circumstantial targets for influencing both MEPs and associate States to advance a more ambitious green political agenda. The papers viewed by De Telegraaf show that the controversial itself Nature Restoration Act, initiated by Timmermans, had to be “promoted” by an umbrella organization comprising 185 environmental groups. In addition, according to the newspaper, EUR 700,000 in grants was to be utilized for “impact” on agricultural debate towards a more environmentally friendly direction.
Current Commissioner for Budget, combating fraud and public administration, Peter Seraphin, acknowledged that specified practices had taken place in the past, calling them “inappropriate”. “Unfortunately, specified practices have taken place in the past and must be eliminated. Measures have already been taken to address this problem and I can assure everyone that they will not happen again," said Serafin.
According to the European Court of Auditors' study of April 2025, the Commission's financing process was defined as “untransparent” and auditors warned against the possible hazard of reputation loss. Nevertheless, no evidence was found during the yearly investigation of any inappropriate conduct by NGOs or officials of the European Commission.
Timmermans himself denies knowing about secret contracts. “I have never made specified agreements myself and have not been straight active in them during my word as European Commissioner”, he said. At the same time, he stressed that “it is crucial that there is full transparency and transparency” and that paper allegations are investigated.
The case sparked a political storm in Brussels. Dirk Gotink MEP speaks openly about “lobbing lists with names of politicians to be contacted”, describing the situation as "Highly organised collusion between the green coalition led by Timmermans and the left-wing majority in the European Parliament".
In June, the European Parliament had already voted to set up a peculiar working group to examine and monitor the financing of NGOs. Michael Jäger, president of TAE, expects preliminary responses from both prosecutors within about 3 months to indicate whether they will undertake an investigation.
Source:
https://www.brusselsreport.eu/2025/07/29/the-brussels-ngo-scandal-continues-to-expand
https://nltimes.nl/2025/01/23/timmermans-denies-knowing-secret-lobby-deal-european-commission
