Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Aug 3 (IPS) - The financial transparency of many European Union think tanks is "seriously inadequate", according to a new survey from a lobbyist watchdog.

The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) says that while European Union (EU) think tanks are becoming increasingly important players in the political landscape in Brussels, their influence is frequently not matched with sufficient transparency.

The survey 'Transparency Unthinkable?' says many EU think tanks are unwilling to provide basic financial information about who funds their work, and that their websites contain little, or sometimes no specific information about their sources of income, including corporate funding.

"Although most EU think tanks do not engage much in direct lobbying of decision-makers, the aim of their activities is to influence EU policies," Olivier Hoedeman, researcher at CEO, an Amsterdam-based campaign group which monitors the political influence of corporations and their lobby groups, said in a statement.

"Parliamentarians, the media and the public must therefore have access to necessary information about the interests behind these think tanks, not the least who funds their work," added Hoedeman.

The CEO estimates that there may currently be up to 50 Brussels-based think tanks, ranging from large mainstream institutions like the European Policy Centre (EPC), the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and Friends of Europe to smaller ones like Centre for the New Europe and the European Enterprise Institute.

The CEO's survey of 15 Brussels-based think tanks conducted earlier this year asked for an overview of their "sources of funding for the last financial year (including corporate donations, government grants, aggregate amount of individual donations and other sources of income), as well as a list of current funders."

The survey aimed to assess the willingness of the think tanks to provide basic financial information beyond what is currently available online.

The results showed that the most transparent Brussels-based EU think tank is Bruegel, a new organisation devoted to international economics. The influential European Policy Centre and Friends of Europe were runners-up.

The CEO says the least transparent of those think tanks questioned were the "radical free market think tanks" -- the fastest growing sector within the Brussels think tanks landscape.

The Centre for a New Europe, European Enterprise Institute, Health Consumer Powerhouse, Institut Hayek, International Council for Capital Formation and the Lisbon Council failed to provide any information about who funds their work.

The survey also showed that these think tanks, with few exceptions, seem determined not to disclose who funds them and for what purposes.

"It would appear that this category of hard line neo-liberal think tanks do not want the public to know about their sources of financial support. This secrecy may have to do with the fact that the relationship between some of these think tanks and their corporate donors goes beyond that of mainstream institutions like Bruegel or CEPS," the report says.

The CEO says the Centre for the New Europe and other similar think tanks accept specific project funding from corporations seeking to promote controversial positions on highly politicised concerns, such as casting doubt about the seriousness of climate change and other environmental problems.

"It seems that these think tanks are being used to influence EU decision-making in an indirect way by providing a screen between large corporations and the public," Erik Wesselius from the CEO told IPS Wednesday (Aug. 3).

Further research by the CEO reveals that radical free market think tanks are thriving on growing volumes of corporate funding, including from U.S. multinationals.

"The Centre for the New Europe, for instance, receives donations from Exxon Mobile for efforts to cast doubt about the seriousness of climate change," the group says.

Although the CEO is generally in favour of think tanks, it says the problems start with funding.

"Think tanks in general are doing work but the problems arise when such organisations are funded by private interests for particular interests. When think tanks are funded in this way then many have no choice but to turn to the private sector. This means that the borders between dependency and independency become blurred," said Wesselius.

As a result of a new Belgian law, many Brussels-based think tanks will soon be legally obliged to improve financial transparency to an extent. Those think tanks that are registered as non-profit associations will from Jan. 1 2006 have to file their annual financial report with the Belgian authorities.

However, the new law does not include any legal obligation to specify sources of income, so it is a limited instrument for boosting transparency. The CEO says more needs to be done to ensure greater financial transparency.

"It is difficult for the CEO to monitor such activities, but one solution to this problem is that new transparency rules could be linked to the European Commission's European Transparency initiative which already covers non-governmental organisations in Brussels," said Wesselius.

The European Transparency initiative was launched earlier this year by EU commissioner for administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud Siim Kallas. It aims to increase openness and accessibility of EU institutions, raise awareness over the use of the EU budget and make the Union's institutions more accountable to the public.

"As part of the European Transparency Initiative, the European Commission could encourage improved financial transparency for those think tanks that receive EU funding. Increased political pressure is needed to ensure that also these think tanks live up to basic transparency standards," the survey says. . (END/2005)