Research Note: Comparing EU funding for political NGOs in the United States and Israel

In responses to allegations that European Union funding for Israeli political NGOs is highly disproportionate and unique in terms of relations with other democratic countries, EU officials have pointed to funding for NGOs in the United States.

Since the EU responses do not include details, NGO Monitor has examined entries relating to the U.S. in the comprehensive EU Financial Transparency System (FTS), under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) mechanisms, for the years 2012-2014.

Only three entries on NGO grants for projects within the U.S. were listed, totaling €1.3 million. In totals, there were three grants for two different projects, all in 2012, and all opposing the death penalty. ¹ No information is available on who approved these grants, how the decisions were made, and why funding was (apparently) suspended after one year.

In comparison, NGO Monitor’s research shows that in 2012-2014, the EU provided €11 million to 36 Israeli NGOs, many receiving multiple grants. (Since 1999, the EU, its member states, Switzerland, and Norway have provided hundreds of grants to Israeli political NGOs since 1999, averaging approximately €40 to €50 million annually. On a per capita basis, this would be the equivalent of €2 billion annually for American political NGOs.)

This data clearly expose the false EU claim that the funding for Israeli political NGOs is not unique or disproportionate in comparison to the United States.

The only additional information available on EU grants to political organizations in the U.S. can be found in a European Court of Auditors (ECA) special report published in 2015 on “EU support for the fight against torture and the abolition of the death penalty,”, covering the period 2007-2013. According to this report, the EU funded seven projects opposing the death penalty in the U.S. during this time – five in 2009, in addition to the two projects in 2012 reviewed above. Based on this report, EU funding against the death penalty in the U.S. totaled €3.4 million over a period of six years.

The report provides a vague, limited and inconsistent evaluation of the funding’s effectiveness, finding that “there are indications that six of the projects examined that contributed towards abolishing the death penalty in the United States had a combined positive impact” (p.24),; but that “a project that sought to strengthen organisations that fight against the death penalty in two states in the United States had some impact, albeit far from the extent expected.” (p.22).

While the ECA report does not refer to the projects or NGOs by name, a 2015 Politico article by James Panichi concluded that the project found by the ECA to be unsatisfactory was conducted by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), whose “intensive assistance program” targeted the states of Virginia and Texas.

EU grants to NGOs for projects within the U.S., 2012-2014

*Information taken from the EU Financial Transparency System (FTS)

EU Projects against the Death Penalty in the U.S. Covered by ECA Evaluation, 2007-2013

*Information from ECA special report