The European Union is preparing its own law on foreign agents
Non-governmental, non-profit organizations in the European Union may be required to report receipt of funding from outside the EU.
The Brussels publication Politico writes about this with reference to sources, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to their information, the corresponding law is being prepared by the office of the Vice-President of the European Commission for Justice Vera Jourova.
Non-profit organizations and consultancies in Brussels are spooked by a survey conducted by European Commission (EC) officials. They believe these organizations and companies will soon have to report foreign income to the EU under legislation being drafted by the office of EU Justice Vice President Vera Jourova, three sources told Politico.
The survey, which was carried out by a third party on behalf of the European Commission, asked respondents to indicate whether they received funding from outside the EU.
“This issue has concerned some organizations, which felt that they were effectively adding themselves to the future list of foreign agents by responding to a survey that was formally intended for the Commission’s work on the bill,” the publication notes.
The issue of foreign funding “reminds a lot of people of the past,” Nick Iossa, head of policy and advocacy at Transparency International (TI), which is designated an undesirable organization in the Russian Federation, told Politico. According to a TI representative, he personally participated in the oral survey.
“The leading questions suggested that they were assessing whether Transparency International poses a threat to democracy,” Ayossa added.
Some NGOs have expressed concern that if the EU adopts its own version of the US foreign agent registration law, powerful politicians such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban could use it as a weapon to suppress pro-democracy forces in their country, Politico writes. .
A representative for Yurova did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As the publication notes, the office of the Vice-President of the EC is responsible for developing the “defense of democracy” package advertised by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. It aims to protect key institutions from undue influence from foreign players, and the law is scheduled to be adopted by the end of May.
Politico recalled that last week there were mass protests in Georgia against a law that declares media and non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad as “agents of foreign influence.” The protests forced the Georgian government to withdraw the bill.
“It’s strange that we are having this conversation after what happened in Georgia,” Ayossa said in comments to the publication.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, in Georgia, under pressure from the EU and the United States, the law on foreign agents was withdrawn.
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