NGOs play a key role in addressing the humanitarian crisis. Several NGOs from around Europe have already deployed teams in Greece to protect the health of the refugees who have settled –-albeit temporarily — in Greece and to ensure that their living standards are decent. Given that NGOs have an important mission that is directly linked to the humanitarian crisis, it is crucial that their EUR 700 million funding is spent efficiently and allocated and managed in a transparent manner.

Could the competent Commissioner please say:
1. Does the institutional framework for the Transparency Register — the successor to the NGO Register — provide opportunities to evaluate the efficiency and transparency of registered NGOs, or is it up to that task?
2. Is there a process in place to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of NGOs with a view to deciding which NGOs will undertake what part of this colossal task and to monitor how they use the funding?
3. Is there a mechanism to monitor, either locally or remotely, the effectiveness and transparency of their work?

Answer given by Mr Stylianides on behalf of the Commission

1. The Transparency Register is one of the key tools for implementing the Commission's commitment to transparency. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) account for approximately 25% of the 9 000+ registrants. The Register sheds light on interest representatives seeking to influence the formulation or implementation of policy and the decision-making process of the EU institutions. It reveals important elements about the profile, structure and activities of organisations as well as the human and financial resources invested in ‘lobbying’. However, it is not the aim of the tool to evaluate the efficiency of registered entities, be they NGO or other.

As regard organisations implementing humanitarian actions on the basis of a Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) concluded with the Commission pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96(1), the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to the Written Question E-002349/2016(2). The Commission maintains and regularly updates a public register of its FPA partner organisations, available on the Commission's website(3).

2. The Commission would like to refer the Honourable Member to its answer given to the Written Question E-002349/2016.

3. The Commission would like to refer the Honourable Member to its answer given to the Written Question E-002349/2016. As regard monitoring, the Commission would like to clarify that the process is further supported by the Commission's field experts, deployed in the areas of intervention, who have the obligation to visit project sites and gather first-hand information on project implementation.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20.6.1996 concerning humanitarian aid (OJ L 163, 2.7.1996, p. 1).
(2) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/parliamentary-questions.html
(3) http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/partners/humanitarian_aid/fpa_partners.pdf