US conservative organisations close to the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement have met MEPs on several occasions, according to a report by Transparency International EU.

Brussels

A new report from Transparency International EU has found that American conservative organizations aligned with the MAGA movement have been actively lobbying Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). These groups, including Republicans for National Renewal, the Heritage Foundation, and ADF International, have reportedly met with MEPs—mainly those unaffiliated or from the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group—on several occasions.

The report notes that these organizations advocate for positions such as climate skepticism, opposition to EU tech regulations, and anti-abortion stances. Despite abortion being a matter for individual EU member states, the groups are said to be influencing national debates through their engagement with MEPs. The report identified around 20 meetings between these US groups and MEPs, compared to over 30,000 total lobbying meetings recorded in the same period, with most lobbying coming from commercial interests.

MAGA-aligned conservative groups actively lobby at EU Parliament

It's unprecedented. American conservative organizations close to the MAGA movement have been lobbying MEPs. At least that's according to a new report by anti-corruption group Transparency International EU. MEPs, mainly non-aligned or members of the far-right group Europe of Sovereign Nations, are said to have met with conservative organizations such as Republicans for National Renewal and the Heritage Foundation. Usually those are organizations that are very much stand for quite climate skeptic position and they lobby for fossil fuel for example. And of course also they're very much against the whole tech regulation that the EU has adopted in recent years such as the European Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. And one of the sort of the main topics that you can actually see directly into the meetings is issues around free speech. ADF International, a US-based Christian anti-abortion organization, is also increasingly active in the European Parliament, according to the report. Although abortion is not a European competence and falls to the member states, these organizations are reportedly trying to influence national debates via MEPs. It's an organization that is sort of ultra-conservative Christian that lobbies against abortion. And this is also a subject that now appears in the MEP meetings that didn't exist before because they're now trying to push or to convince MEPs to adopt anti-abortionist stance and they have of course also a much more favorable ground given the results of the last election. The report identifies around 20 meetings between MEPs and these American conservative organizations. But let's put things into perspective. In total, over 30,000 meetings between MEPs and lobbyists were recorded in one year. Of the 20 most active organizations in the European Parliament, 15 represent commercial interests, with a very active presence from the fossil fuel sector. Only five represent NGOs.

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