The EFC and DAFNE have submitted joint comments in response to a newly proposed law that requires civil society organisations to report the amount of donations of €15,000 or higher, and also the name and residence of the donors.

In the joint submission to the online consultation they state ‘We are concerned that the proposed draft law, in particular the suggested public reporting of donors/donations, would send the wrong signals and would have devastating consequences for funders and CSOs in the Netherlands and wider Europe. The obligation to publish the names and addresses of donors is likely to have a chilling effect on donors and could lead to a severe drop in donations for many CSOs.’

The joint EFC-DAFNE contribution explains how the draft law is potentially in conflict with human rights and EU law, stating ‘the draft Act would conflict with the Freedom of Association as well as privacy rights of the donors whose names and residence would be published.’ It also explains how the law is not in line with the overall environment for philanthropy in Europe, and puts at risk the status of the Netherlands as a philanthropy-friendly country,

EFC and DAFNE have collaborated with legal experts, in particular The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law to analyse the draft law from a human rights and EU law perspective.

Read the full joint contribution to the consultation: https://www.efc.be/