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In an unprecedented move, US conservative organisations closely aligned with the MAGA movement have been lobbying MEPs, according to a new report by the anti-corruption group Transparency International EU.
MEPs, mainly non-aligned or members of the far-right parliamentary group Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), reportedly met with conservative organisations such as Republicans from Chile’s National Renewal party and the US conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
“Usually, these organisations take a very sceptical view of the climate. And they lobby for fossil fuels,” Raphaël Kergueno, Policy Officer at Transparency International EU, told Euronews.
According to him, these interest groups have also opposed the technology regulations that the EU has adopted in recent years, such as the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), in the name of “freedom of expression”.
Anti-abortion positions
ADF International, a Christian anti-abortion organisation based in the US, is also increasingly active in the European Parliament, according to the report.
“It is an ultra-conservative Christian organisation that lobbies against abortion. It’s a subject that now comes up at MEPs’ meetings that didn’t exist before, because they’re now trying to push or convince MEPs to adopt an anti-abortion stance,” Kergueno said.
“Of course, they also have a much more favourable ground to stand on, given the results of the last elections,” he added.
Although abortion falls outside the EU’s competencies and is a domestic matter individually decided on by member states, these organisations are trying to influence national debates via MEPs, according to the researcher.
The report identifies around twenty meetings between MEPs and these American conservative organisations.
How many interest groups are there?
In total, more than 30,000 meetings between MEPs and lobbyists were recorded in one year.
“The further to the right you go in the hemicycle, the more you see these American conservative groups appearing. And then slowly, when you move to the centre, it becomes more like corporate lobbyists,” Kergueno said.
“And then, when you move to the left, we get to the civil society organisations. And when we go all the way to the left, to the extreme left, then we see the trade unions appear,” he explained.
Among the 20 most active organisations in the European Parliament, 15 represent commercial interests, with a very active presence of the fossil fuel sector, and only five represent NGOs.
