15/05/2026
The EU is quietly defunding the civil society groups it created to defend its own values at the demand of illiberal, state-backed actors who are already filling the gap.
In February 2025, MCC Brussels – the Orbán-linked Hungarian think tank that opened its doors in Brussels in 2022 – accused the EU of using a dedicated eu fund – called CERV to support groups “explicitly aligned with the Commission’s vision of deeper European integration.” Months later, the Commission declined to renew funding for a significant number of those groups. It seems to have worked.
A recent Politico investigation revealed that the European Commission has cut millions in operating grants from established pro-EU think tanks and advocacy organisations, just as well-funded Eurosceptic actors expand their presence in the city. The funding shortfall amounts to €7.8 million. Among those losing grants are the European Policy Centre (~€250,000/year), the Jacques Delors Institute (€350,000/year), and the Robert Schuman Foundation (€400,000/year).
The affected organisations had for years received operating grants through the CERV programme – the EU’s main funding instrument for civil society working on democratic values and fundamental rights. Those grants were not renewed. They follow a concerted pressure campaign by right-wing organisations accusing CERV recipients of producing “EU propaganda,” including MCC.
While established organisations cut staff and scale back programmes, Eurosceptic actors are investing heavily. MCC Brussels alone received more than €6.3 million from its parent institution in 2024 – state-backed Hungarian money, with no co-funding requirements and no CERV accountability. It co-sponsored the National Conservatism conference, co-authored a paper proposing to dismantle the European Commission and the Court of Justice, and runs a sustained campaign against the Green Deal. The response to this asymmetry cannot be bureaucratic neutrality. In a context where one side has state-level funding, and the other competes for grants, neutrality is itself a political choice – one that advantages those with the deepest pockets and the least accountability.
What Must Change
The upcoming negotiations of the next 7-year EU budget (MFF) are the moment to act. Three things must happen.
Cut the co-funding burden. CERV operating grants currently require a 20% co-funding contribution. With USAID gutted and national budgets strained, this bar is too high for the organisations that need support most. It should be reduced to 10%, in line with action grants.
Protect advocacy as a fundable activity. The Commission has been signalling – in CERV, LIFE, and EU4Health – that it may restrict “advocacy activities” for grant recipients. Advocacy is explicitly listed as eligible in the CERV Regulation. The Commission should say so clearly and stop rewarding bad-faith attacks by acting on them.
Mention the advocacy role of civil society explicitly in CERV+. The Commission’s post-2027 proposal removes the language of “advocacy” and “contributing to policymaking” from the successor programme. A bigger budget that funds fewer of the right organisations in a more constrained way is not progress. The EU was built on the premise that democratic values need active defenders in the policy process every day, not just at moments of crisis. Right now, it is cutting the funding of those defenders while state-backed illiberal actors move in. The Commission needs to decide whether it is comfortable with that.