Left-wing organizations are trying to remove Ordo Iuris from the composition of the committee monitoring the spending of EU funds

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· The Ordo Iuris Institute has been invited to participate in the Monitoring Committee for the European Funds for a Modern Economy program, which includes funds worth PLN 45.9 billion.

· Several left-wing NGOs, including the Campaign Against Homophobia and Planned Parenthood, have asked EU commissioners for a meeting on the exclusion of Ordo Iuris from the committee's work.

· In the letter, the organizations accuse the Institute of "hate speech" and acting against "EU values," which are said to be the so-called right to abortion, gender ideology or privileges for the LGBT movement.

· In its prepared response, the Institute recalls that its activities do not contradict any real EU value, it treats all adversaries with respect, and supports its positions with legal arguments. The Institute also asked to be allowed to participate in a meeting between the Commissioners and representatives of the aforementioned organizations.

On November 30 last year, the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy invited the Ordo Iuris Institute to designate its representative to the Monitoring Committee for the European Funds for a Modern Economy (FENG) program. Earlier, the Institute participated in the open call for NGOs to this Committee conducted by the Council for Public Benefit Activities at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. The Foundation was invited to participate in the work of the Committee as an expert organization in the field of fundamental rights. In addition, the Committee will include ten other NGOs, as well as representatives of the government and local governments. The program will aim to increase the potential of companies in research and innovation and increase the use of advanced technologies in organizations, increase the competitiveness of Polish small and medium-sized enterprises, and transform the economy towards Industry 4.0 and green and digital technologies. The main tasks of the Monitoring Committee will include approving the methodology and criteria used to select projects under the FENG, reviewing the implementation and progress made to achieve the Program's goals, and studying issues affecting its implementation. The budget for the entire program is PLN 45.9 billion, of which PLN 36.6 billion is EU funds.

The nomination of the Ordo Iuris Institute was met with a reaction from some left-wing NGOs, which on December 13 sent a letter to the EU Commissioner for Labor and the EU Commissioner for Cohesion, calling for a clandestine meeting to "discuss possible measures to ensure that organizations working directly against EU values and the Charter of Fundamental Rights do not have a say in the methodology and selection criteria for EU-funded projects." Among other things, the actions of the Ordo Iuris Institute for the protection of life from conception, the rights of families and the denunciation of the Istanbul Convention promoting gender ideology are to be considered contrary to EU values. The letter was signed by six NGOs working for abortion and the implementation of the demands of the LGBT movement: the Campaign Against Homophobia, the Federation for Women and Family Planning, ILGA-Europe, Planned Parenthood (European Network), Human Rights Watch and the European Civic Forum.

In a letter dated January 4. the Institute's president and vice-president denied that efforts to protect life or family rights contradict EU values. At the same time, they asked for the opportunity to participate in a meeting of commissioners with representatives of organizations hostile to Ordo Iuri,s in order to refute the accusations.

- Leftist organizations accuse us of violating "sexual and reproductive rights" and "LGBTI rights," despite the fact that no piece of EU law - including the Charter of Fundamental Rights - mentions such rights at all. Thus, we are to be excluded from the committee that monitors the disbursement of EU funds not because of violations of "EU values," but because we proclaim views that are incompatible with the expectations of organizations demanding that unborn children be deprived of their right to life and demanding privileges inherent in the family for people with atypical sexual preferences.  Such an approach is difficult to reconcile with the right to freedom of expression, which is an unquestionable value of the EU. Despite these attempts, the Ordo Iuris Institute will participate in the work of the FENG Monitoring Committee, providing its knowledge and experience in the field of fundamental rights," stressed Weronika Przebierała, director of the International Law Center of the Ordo Iuris Institute.