Furedi said MCC Brussels has taken up themes that nobody else has touched, challenging the "narrow conversation" in EU politics.
Controversies and Regulatory Suspension
Critics accuse MCC Brussels of defending Orbán's corrupt rule and lacking transparency over its own funding.
In early 2024, the think tank supported farmer protests in Brussels, publishing reports claiming EU policy was "destroying" farming.
MCC also accused the European Commission of "funnelling billions into a shadowy network of NGOs and thinktanks," fueling a campaign against EU funding of civil society groups.
Petros Fassoulas of the European Movement International, one of the organizations highlighted, said the report contributed to a climate against NGOs.
MCC Brussels was suspended from the EU Transparency Register last month following a complaint from the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) over failure to disclose funding.
MCC Brussels registered on the EU list in January 2024 but did not disclose its funding until August 2024, which the think tank said was within the allowed timeframe.
CEO co-founder Olivier Hoedeman said the complaint was initiated when MCC Brussels was "leading the attack on civil society," calling their failure to disclose their own budget "glaringly hypocritical."
MCC Brussels claimed the suspension was "politically motivated."
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The European Commission declined to explain the reasons for the suspension, citing ongoing administrative proceedings.
