Europe's World - Funding

Funding

In 2009, Friends of Europe's annual budget was €1,707,116.

The funding source breakdown was as follows:

• European and international institutions (EU, OECD, IMF, World Bank, etc.): €428,940 (24.0%)
• Diplomatic missions, national, regional and local authorities: €196,895 (11.7%)
• Corporate sector (companies and trade associations): €952,840 (56.7%)
• Private non-corporate (foundations and NGOs): €128,441 (7.6%)

The European Commission contributed the largest sum of money through a mixture of structural support and project-support (the European Commission was the only partner that contributed more than 5% of the annual budget).

Out of all NGOs and think tanks, Friends of Europe received the tenth largest amount of funding from the European Commission in 2010 at €192,000.

In April 2009 European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud Siim Kallas publicly criticised Friends of Europe for not registering in the European Commission's "voluntary lobbyists register." Kallas maintained that think tanks, such as Friends of Europe, were an important source of visibility of indirect interest representation at the EU level, and that Friends was explicitly marketing visibility for sponsors. Secretary-General Giles Merritt responded that the organisation made its sources of funding public on its website, and was not promoting any particular interests. He suggested the creation of a separate register for think tanks. Friends of Europe is now registered.