The EU Commission has announced that it will "immediately" stop funding individuals or organizations involved in "serious professional misconduct." This follows an investigation by Follow the Money (FtM) which revealed that EU funds amounting to millions of euros have been directly channeled to commercial spyware firms in recent years.
In September, the FtM portal, in collaboration with other media partners, uncovered that the spyware industry is receiving substantial subsidies from the EU while simultaneously surveilling its citizens. According to the report, the Intellexa Group, which developed the Predator state trojan, has, through affiliated companies, secured public funding, particularly through innovation programs. Cognyte, CyGate, and Verint are also reported to have received financial support from EU sources for their surveillance technologies, such as spyware, whose solutions are frequently mentioned in the context of human rights violations.
In response, 39 EU parliamentarians from four political groups have jointly requested concrete answers from the Commission in a letter. The representatives lamented that the EU is, apparently unintentionally, funding instruments that have been or are being used for repressive purposes in member states like Poland, Greece, and Hungary, as well as in authoritarian third countries. This, they argue, undermines fundamental rights and democracy.
According to the letter, the Commission has apparently failed to verify the trustworthiness, ownership structure, and human rights compliance of these companies. The requested end-user clauses or dual-use controls, which assess whether a product can be misused for civilian, military, and police purposes, are apparently not being effectively enforced. The revelations indicate that the Brussels-based governing institution is not sufficiently adhering to recommendations from the parliamentary inquiry committee on spyware scandals in this highly sensitive area.
Commission Stands By
In its statement, according to an FtM newsletter, the Commission explains that law enforcement agencies and intelligence services may "lawfully use spyware for legitimate purposes." However, it fails to list all EU programs from which surveillance companies have benefited. Specifically, information regarding grants from the European Social Fund and another financial pot awarded to the Italian surveillance company Area is missing.
The executive body also fails to mention financial flows to the notorious spyware manufacturer Hacking Team, the report continues. Even recent transfers from the European Investment Fund (EIF) to the Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions, which is currently at the center of a scandal in Italy, remain unmentioned. Instead of proposing new protective measures, the Commission merely refers to the existing legal framework for protection against the illegal use of spyware.
The EU executive is "hiding behind vague references to 'EU values'," criticizes Aljosa Ajanovic Andelic from the initiative European Digital Rights (EDRi) regarding the response to FtM. It openly admits that "European funds have financed companies whose technologies are used for espionage against journalists and human rights defenders." This, he states, demonstrates a complete lack of effective control mechanisms. Green Party MEP Hannah Neumann criticizes that the Commission has taken hardly any action in the past two years following the committee's report.
