Commission inquiry into alleged misuse of funding by Palestinian organisations

Question for written answer  E-001446/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Hilde Vautmans (Renew)

Last year, Commissioner Várhelyi announced an investigation into the EU funding of Palestinian Civil Society Organisations[1]. In an answer to a parliamentary question, the Commissioner stated that this investigation included 1) a ‘critically-minded review of the safeguards in place [...] that protect EU funds against misuse or deviation for unintended purposes, including terrorism or incitement, in Palestine’ and 2) a parallel investigation ‘into individual cases of alleged misuse or deviation of EU funds in Palestine’.[2]

Can the Commission inform Parliament on the findings of both these investigations, namely:

• 1.Has the review process been completed?
• 2.Did the Commission find any grounds to change the safeguards currently in place and if so, what are these grounds, and what adaptations are in order?
• 3.Has it found any evidence pointing to the alleged misuse of funds by individual Palestinian organisations?

• [1] https://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-official-tells-palestinians-to-check-that-no-funds-benefit-terror-backers/
• [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-003051-ASW_EN.html