A group of Members of the European Parliament has submitted a written parliamentary question to the European Commission concerning the recent reviews conducted by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) on Erasmus+ projects implemented by World Youth Alliance Europe (WYA Europe). The initiative follows earlier concerns raised by Members of the European Parliament regarding the methodology and conclusions of these reviews, as well as questions about neutrality and legal certainty in their application.
The initiative comes after a series of review reports issued by the EACEA in November 2025 concerning three Erasmus+ grants involving WYA Europe. The review reports allege that certain ethical and scientific views reflected in World Youth Alliance Europe’s educational activities constitute a breach of EU values. In particular, the reviews questioned whether elements of WYA’s educational approach are compatible with fundamental EU values, including its recognition of the intrinsic human dignity of every person from conception, its understanding of the family as a fundamental unit of society, its affirmation of scientifically verifiable facts concerning the immutable biological characteristics of men and women, and its ethical criticism of practices such as surrogacy.
The review reports rely largely on non-binding European Parliament resolutions and Commission strategies to interpret EU values, some of which were adopted after the projects had already been implemented.
The parliamentary question now submitted asks the Commission to clarify how such reviews are conducted in practice and on what legal basis compliance with EU values is assessed in grant monitoring procedures. In particular, it raises questions about whether non-binding political resolutions or policy strategies may be used as evaluation criteria, whether ethical or philosophical positions expressed by beneficiaries can be treated as breaches of EU values, and what safeguards exist to ensure neutrality, legal certainty and equal treatment of civil society organisations participating in EU programmes.
The parliamentary question was tabled by MEP Karlo Ressler and supported by Lukas Mandl, Massimiliano Salini, Bert-Jan Ruissen, Davor Ivo Stier, Miriam Lexmann, Željana Zovko, Loránt Vincze, Tomislav Sokol, Isabel Benjumea Benjumea, Matej Tonin, Christophe Gomart and Paulius Saudargas.
World Youth Alliance Europe now calls on the Commission to provide clear guidance on the proper scope and methodology of project reviews and to ensure that future assessments are conducted strictly on the basis of grant agreements and applicable law. It is essential that organisations participating in EU programmes, including those that promote pro-life positions, or critical of surrogacy or gender theory, and perspectives grounded in the protection of human dignity and life, are able to carry out their educational and youth activities without fear that their lawful viewpoints will be treated as grounds for non-compliance with EU project agreements or interpreted as breach of fundamental EU values.
