The European Commission has acknowledged diverting funds from the EU’s LIFE Program—originally earmarked for combating climate change—to bankroll left-wing NGOs and climate groups in a clandestine effort to muzzle conservative and Eurosceptic voices across Europe.
The LIFE Program, with a €9 billion budget since 2014, was intended to support environmental and climate initiatives, but a portion of these funds was instead weaponized to target political opponents, according to Austria’s eXXpress newspaper.
In a brief statement, the Commission admitted:
“The Commission finds that the work programmes presented by the activist organizations (…) contained inappropriate lobbying activities.”
Internal documents reveal a coordinated scheme between EU agencies and climate NGOs, including detailed plans identifying specific critics—primarily conservative lawmakers and parties skeptical of centralized EU policies—for attack.
Peter Liese, environment policy spokesperson for the conservative EPP group (CDU/Germany), condemned the revelation:
“We see this as a clear misstep by both individual EU officials and organizations. The misuse of EU funds must stop.”
Roughly €15.5 million annually from the LIFE Program flowed to NGOs, with strings attached: these groups were directed to align their campaigns with the Commission’s agenda, including neutralizing opposition to the Green Deal through “shadow lobbying” and public smear tactics.
The operation, reportedly masterminded by former EU Climate Commissioner Frans Timmermans, involved secret contracts with NGOs like the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). These agreements outlined lobbying strategies, specifying targets such as conservative MEPs, national politicians, and parties—Austria’s FPÖ and ÖVP among the likely victims—who resisted stringent climate rules. The EEB, for instance, was allegedly tasked with swaying EU Parliament decisions, including countering resistance to laws like the Nature Restoration Law, by pressuring lawmakers with media campaigns and advocacy framing critics as anti-environment.
Only a third of LIFE-funded NGOs disclose their finances, fueling accusations of opacity. Critics say the Commission not only provided cash but also strategic blueprints, outsourcing execution to major NGOs like the EEB, which then delegated tasks to smaller groups. The EEB reportedly had to demonstrate “at least 16 examples” of how its lobbying toughened EU laws, a clear bid to suppress conservative pushback.
The fallout has united conservative factions. The EPP, ECR, and PfE—three of the EU’s largest right-leaning parliamentary groups—have demanded accountability. In early 2025, MEPs from these blocs threatened to slash €15.6 million in annual LIFE funding to some 30 NGOs, alleging the Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) secretly paid groups to lobby for harsher climate policies, undermining legislative independence. EPP budgetary vice-chair Monika Hohlmeier called it “scandalous one-sided methods” and demanded repayment of misused funds stretching back a decade. ECR’s Pietro Fiocchi (Fratelli d’Italia) and others argue this “targeted lobbying” skewed the EU’s institutional balance.
Whistleblower evidence of “secret contracts,” cited by EPP MEP Tomas Zdechovsky, has intensified the row. Though the EPP briefly softened its stance after a March 31, 2025, environment committee vote (lost 41-40), frustration persists. Dutch MEP Sander Smit accused the Commission of dodging a promised transparency deal. The ECR, aligned with its anti-federalist stance, has amplified the overreach narrative, with figures like Fiocchi linking it to Brussels’ broader power grabs.
The NGOs’ focus—farming, migration, and climate rules—suggests targets included rural advocates like Dutch BBB MEP Sander Smit (EPP) or Italy’s Fiocchi (ECR). Guidelines curbing subsidized lobbying were introduced in autumn 2024, but only now are the abuses surfacing. The Commission claims reforms to the LIFE Program are underway to prevent future oversteps.
This scandal emerges amid a broader reckoning. With Russia’s aggression escalating post-Ukraine invasion and Trump’s push for NATO allies to hike military spending to 5% of GDP, many European leaders now see the Green Deal as a liability—weakening economies and hobbling rearmament against threats to states like Finland and Poland. The debate over ditching the Green Deal is just heating up.