European Hypocrisy and Hidden Funding: The Case of Secret Media Subsidies

The outrage of European leaders over JD Vance's words in Munich, criticizing the EU's methods of financing and steering elections in favor of candidates aligned with the globalist and progressive agenda, seems increasingly hypocritical today. The recent scandal of secret EU subsidies to the media shows that what has emerged so far is nothing but the tip of the iceberg, revealing a reality much deeper and more systematic than European authorities are willing to admit.

It had never happened before, and now it's happening again ( source ): some foreign journalists have discovered that colleagues from different countries would have received "grants" from the European Commission to publish articles favorable to Brussels' policies.

Hungarian daily Mandiner revealed that shortly before the European elections, EU authorities secretly transferred €132 million to several media companies via the private advertising agency Havas Media France . The final recipients of these funds were not made public, but according to journalists, the purpose of these funds was clear: to direct and manipulate public opinion in the run-up to the elections.

An opaque and non-transparent system

According to Voce della Sera , citing an investigation by Fatto Quotidiano , neither the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen nor the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, both members of the EPP, have provided information on the recipients, amounts or reasons for these transfers. The funds would have been disbursed through a framework contract – identified by the document Comm/Dg/Fmw/2023/30 of 5 September 2023 – assigning the entire amount to the private advertising agency Havas Media France , thus circumventing the obligation to make payments above 14,000 euros transparent and to register them in the public database ted.europa.eu .

The framework contract would also have allowed it to circumvent the public tender process by keeping the beneficiaries and transaction details confidential. The way Havas divided the payments among the various media outlets also remains shrouded in secrecy, despite pressure for greater transparency.

Italian media among beneficiaries?

The investigation reveals that the Italian media involved included information giants such as Rai , Mediaset , Sky , Corriere della Sera , Repubblica , Il Sole 24 Ore , Ansa , Agi , AdnKronos and Citynews . Il Fatto Quotidiano revealed that, in some cases, the funding included the publication of articles and services favorable to Brussels' positions.

Particularly significant is the case of Repubblica , part of the Agnelli-Elkann group, which has reportedly entered into a partnership with the European Parliament and the Commission for the publication of paid content related to the European elections. Initially, the value of the agreement was reportedly 62,000 euros – a figure that was not put out to tender, by virtue of the exemptions provided for in the framework contract with Havas . In Italy, similar large-scale agreements are also said to be in the process of being defined.

The question that arises is: if these articles and partnerships actually represent a form of disguised political advertising, how independent has the European press actually remained?

Authoritarian regime techniques in the heart of Europe

Journalists who exposed the scandal say the EU’s tactics are reminiscent of those of authoritarian regimes, where state-funded media control the flow of information while maintaining the appearance of superficial independence. The real surprise? This is happening in the heart of a European Union that presents itself to the world as a champion of democracy and press freedom.

In the past, similar episodes were dismissed with the classic justification: “It’s different here.” But today public opinion seems less and less willing to tolerate superficial explanations.

The Case of Environmental NGOs and Green Lobbying

Further complicating the European Commission’s position is the recent scandal related to “shadow lobbying” in favor of green policies. It emerged that Brussels had secretly funded environmental NGOs working to promote ambitious climate reforms. These NGOs were allegedly used to put pressure on national governments and members of the European Parliament, bypassing traditional democratic mechanisms.

Ursula von der Leyen's responsibilities

In light of the growing criticism directed at Ursula von der Leyen, it seems inevitable that the President of the Commission will have to take political responsibility for what happened, both for herself and for the officials and intermediaries involved in these scandals. At stake is not only her credibility, but also that of a European Union increasingly distant from its own ideals of transparency, pluralism and respect for democratic rules.

However, leaving these events aside, it seems that all the attention of the European leadership is directed only to the Ukrainian problems, which the EU itself first contributed to creating and now encourages, actively hindering the peacemaking effort.