Cybersecurity Policy Report, European Lawmakers Question EU Leaders About Spyware Funding, (Oct 3, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Verint
European Union lawmakers are seeking information from the European Commission about EU funds being used to subsidize providers of spyware.
“Citizens of the Union have the right to know whether their taxes are being used to finance technologies that endanger their fundamental rights,” 25 members of the European Parliament said in a letter to the EC.
The lawmakers cited recent reports that funds from the EU and member states were provided to spyware operators, including the Intellexa Consortium, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. government (CPR, Sept. 17, 2024).
“Intellexa, Cy4Gate, Verint and Cognyte—whose technologies have been linked to unlawful surveillance of journalists, human rights defenders and political actors in the EU, as well as in third countries with dreadful human rights records—have benefitted from public financing, including EU programmes,” they said.
“This raises serious questions about the governance, transparency and accountability of the Union's funding mechanisms,” they said.
The lawmakers recalled that Parliament had established a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) to investigate spyware abuses by the governments of Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary, and Spain.
They noted that the PEGA committee issued recommendations to curb EU governments’ use of spyware, but the EC did not act on their proposals (CPR, Nov. 27, 2023).
“In the light of the scandals uncovered in Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary and Spain, among others, and of the recommendations of the PEGA inquiry, it is deeply troubling that the Union is directly or indirectly enabling tools that erode democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law,” they said.
“Why has the Commission failed to implement the PEGA Committee's recommendations, which explicitly demanded strict regulation and oversight of spyware vendors? What concrete steps will be taken, and by when, to ensure EU funding mechanisms are aligned with the Union's own commitments on human rights, democracy and digital resilience, so that taxpayers’ money is never used again to enable repression and surveillance?” they asked.
“Given the gravity of these revelations, we urge you to commit to an immediate and public review of all EU subsidies to companies active in the surveillance and spyware sector,” the lawmakers added. “As Members of the European Parliament, we expect your full cooperation in ensuring accountability and restoring public trust.”
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