The EU Transparency Register Secretariat has suspended the registration of MCC Brussels, the Brussels-based arm of the Hungarian Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), following a complaint by the activist group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).
The decision, communicated late on Friday June 12, comes after more than a year of correspondence and an investigation into the organisation’s compliance with the Register’s rules.
MCC Brussels, one of the rare right-leaning organisations in the Brussels bubble, has said it will appeal and described the move as a politically motivated attempt to marginalise a prominent conservative voice in the EU capital.
Corporate Europe Observatory, which campaigns against corporate and what it describes as far-right influence in EU policy-making, lodged a formal complaint in February 2025.
Their original complaint was highly political and focused on other technicalities. It did not mention the reason for the current suspension.
The organisation is funded by a slew of left-leaning foundations, including the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
It alleged that MCC Brussels had improperly used the “Newly formed entity, no financial year closed” category in its registration, despite having been active since late 2022 and having closed financial years according to Belgian company records.
The complaint also criticised MCC Brussels’ activities, including its role in debates around farmers’ protests and climate policy, and its affiliation with the Budapest-based MCC, which receives significant Hungarian state-linked funding.
The Transparency Register Secretariat opened an investigation and engaged extensively with MCC Brussels.
While the initial focus was on financial disclosure, the final decision centred on the “single registration principle”.
This guideline encourages organisations operating across multiple countries or entities (such as networks, corporate groups or NGOs with branches) to register once and cover related activities under a single entry, to avoid duplication.
🚨 EU BUREAUCRACY TARGETING MCC BRUSSELS
They won't succeed – yet another politically motivated attempt to silence MCC BrusselsThe EU Transparency Register Secretariat has suspended MCC Brussels.
Not for hidden lobbying.
Not for undisclosed meetings.
Not for financial…— MCC Brussels (@MCC_Brussels) June 15, 2026
MCC Brussels maintains that it is a separate, autonomous Belgian legal entity (AISBL) with editorial and operational independence from the Hungarian parent organisation.
It says all its income comes from a grant by the Hungarian foundation and that it has had no registered lobbying meetings with EU institutions during the relevant period.
In a detailed statement, MCC Brussels rejected the suspension, arguing it was based on a “disputed interpretation” of the single registration principle rather than any finding of hidden lobbying, undisclosed meetings, financial irregularity or breach of the Code of Conduct.
The organisation pointed to what it described as inconsistent application of the rules.
It highlighted the case of organisations linked to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which maintain multiple active registrations despite similar network structures.
MCC Brussels further noted that the original complaint from CEO went beyond technical transparency issues and attacked the organisation’s political orientation, events, and influence in public debate.
A Brussels bookshop has reversed its decision to host a Conservative event, in the hope of preserving its status as an “inclusive space”, organisers of the gathering have claimed.@Furedibyte @MCC_Brussels @Piolalibrihttps://t.co/drR9HVNoD5
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 25, 2024
CEO has long been critical of MCC Brussels, describing it as part of an Orbán-linked “propaganda machine”.
Executive Director Frank Furedi and Communications Director John O’Brien framed the suspension as the latest in a series of efforts to side line dissenting conservative perspectives in Brussels.
“We have seen pressure campaigns against venues. We have seen attempts to cancel our events. We have seen politicians use state power to try to shut down conferences. Now we are witnessing an attempt to exclude us through bureaucratic means”, Furedi said.
“The original complaint devoted remarkable attention to our views, our conferences, our role in public debate and our supposed political influence. That is not the language of a neutral transparency complaint. It is the language of an ideological campaign against an organisation whose ideas the complainant dislikes”, O’Brien added.
They referenced previous attempts to cancel events, pressure venues, and — most notably — the 2024 efforts by some Brussels mayors to block the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon), a move later overturned by Belgian courts.
The EU Transparency Register, governed by an interinstitutional agreement between the Parliament, Commission and Council, aims to provide public information on organisations seeking to influence EU policy-making.
Registration has become effectively mandatory for access to certain meetings and activities under the “conditionality principle”.
Critics of the Register, from various political perspectives, have long argued that enforcement is patchy and that the Secretariat operates with limited resources and significant discretion.
Questions of selective scrutiny and double standards have arisen repeatedly over the years.
The suspension is not only damaging for the reputation of the MCC, but also causes difficulties for getting lobby passes and possible meetings with some MEPS.
MCC Brussels says it will challenge the decision through all available appeal mechanisms and will continue its research, publications, conferences and public engagement regardless.
The organisation insists it remains committed to transparency while rejecting what it sees as the weaponisation of administrative procedures against legitimate intellectual and political participation.
Their lawyer said in a statement: “The Secretariat of the Transparency Register is the epitome of endless bureaucracy. It is not the product of any law, nor of the will of the people, nor of any Parliament, nor of any nation.
“It came into being through an ‘Institutional Agreement’ approved by the administrations of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the Commission.
“There is no vote to legitimise the powers it has seized. There is no decision signed by the heads of Member States. Its position towards MCC Brussels is a prime example of abuse of power and differential treatment based on political views.
The Mathias Corvinus Collegium Brussels, a leading conservative educational and think-tank organisation associated with Hungary’s Government, has won its final court case over attempts to shut down a conference. https://t.co/KnlbcDx4d3
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 27, 2026
