Accountability of NGOs

Summary

Civil society interest groups of various national or international origins, NGOs and think tanks in the European Union all play a key role in policy-making. The European Commission supports the development of such organisations in order to assure a balanced counterweight to the interests of powerful industrial lobbies. 

EU funding of environmental organizations is perhaps the most visible, and, in keeping with the concept of    transparency , the European Commission publishes data showing the amounts disbursed to support environmental groups. 

However, the quest for balanced policy debate has caused some to complain that the Community is fostering a biased system where accountability among EU Actors is not consistent, due to questions about the legitimacy and representation of interest groups.

Issues

• The other main resources of NGOs - membership fees and sales of publications or products - are perceived as better for independence and grass roots legitimacy, but seldom suffice. 
• On the other hand, EU funding may create unhealthy relationships between pressure groups and institutional actors that raise questions of ethics, corruption and conflicts of interest.
• Increased public-private partnerships between industry and NGOs have already caused some to accuse the latter of "selling out" to industry, inviting them to greater accountability. So, some NGOs claim that public funding is a healthy counter-balance to industry funding.
• Interest groups based outside the European Union that do not benefit from Community funding are disadvantaged versus "favoured" organisations.
• Growing private sector perception in business circles that the European Union's "participatory democracy" sometimes leads to results contradicting the Lisbon Process, eg. when unrealistic expectations from industry are created.
• Private industry complains of a double standard: organizations receiving public funding are not always held accountable to the same standards of transparency as private corporations (i.e. financial reporting requirements differ from country to country).

Positions

WWF attempts to bring about transparency in its functioning by being open and honest about its practices, its activities, and its methods of work. Most information concerning how WWF works, who its partners are, and its level of income and expenditure are found in various places on its website. 

Friends of the Earth - "The attention on NGO accountability is a distraction from the much more pressing issue of corporate accountability given transnational corporations are massive economies having a huge impact on many people's lives and the environment". 

American Enterprise Institute - "While many NGOs have made significant contributions to human rights, the environment, and economic and social development, a lack of international standards for NGO accountability also allows far less credible organizations to have a significant influence on policymaking." 

One World Trust - Its Global Accountability Project aims to assess how open and receptive global organisations are to the internal demands of their members and the external demands of individuals and groups who are affected by the organisations daily operations. 

Researchers from the UN University warn that there are two main problems in expanding and institutionalising participation of NGOs and other associations: 

• how to ensure that they are truly representative and how to hold them accountable?
• how can NGOs remain independent and critical if they are part of the institutionalised decision making process?

Professor Rinus van Schendelen , Erasmus University Rotterdam, says: "NGOs appear to have relatively easy access to EU officials, as the latter consider them less 'dangerous' than national government officials and less 'selfish' than corporate people, and, 'closer to the citizens' than others. That easy access gives NGOs an advantage in PA and lobbying, which makes the playing field less level." See Chapter 7 of his book,   Machiavelli in Brussels .

Timeline

A small number of organizations have taken up the issue of "accountability" among stakeholders. These can be either neutral or having underlying political orientations. Their principle objectives are to monitor the financial resources of pressure groups that face limited accountability obligations, expose bias and report conflicts of interest. Such organisations can also play an advisory role. Some of these include:

• One World Trust
• NGO watch
• SustainAbility

External Links

Non-assigned links

• Commission:List of organisations having received Community funding for environmental purposes(22 May 2001)
• Commission:11 December press release [FR]
• Commission:Report from the Commission on European Governance, COM(2002)705 [FR] [FR] [DE]
• Commission:European Governance: Better Lawmaking, COM(2002)275(5 June 2002)
• Commission:Action plan "Simplifying and improving the regulatory environment", COM(2002)278(5 June 2002)
• Eur-Lex:European Governance: A White Paper, COM(2001)428final [FR] [FR] [DE]
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):Democratic Governance
• World Bank:Greening Industry: New Roles for Communities, Markets and Governments
• European Round Table (ERT):EU Governance(ERT Discussion Paper, 30 May 2002)
• ISUPE:European governance: a major r ole for the services of general economic interest(15 November 2001)
• SEAP:European Governance White Paper breakthrough for organised lobbying(27 July 2001)
• UNICE:European Governance: Business says different models can co-exist(25 July 2001)
• NGO Watch:We're not from the government, but we're here to help you: The growing power of an unelected few
• Marguerite A. Peeters:The principle of participatory democracy in the new Europe: A critical analysis
• Corporate Watch:www.corporatewatch.org
• WWF:Approach to Business and Industry Relations/ Financials - WWF Network Income and Expenditure for 2002
• Friends of the Earth:Introducing European Environmental NGOs Their role and importance in European Union decision-making
• One World Trust:Global Accountability Report: Power Without Accountability?
• SustainAbility:21st Century NGO: Playing the Game or Selling Out?
• Simon Zadek:In defence of non-profit accountability
• Justin Greenwood, Aberdeen Business School, analyses the legitimacy of NGO participation in EU policy-making:The World of EU NGOs and Interest Representation
• CSR - Reporting and Auditing
• CSR - Socially Responsible Investment
• Corporate Governance
• Ethical Best Practice
• Environmental Governance
• Lisbon Agenda