The BBC has secured £2.7 million of European Union funds since 2014 but has failed to tell the public about it.
Corporation bosses applied for the cash under the EU’s Horizon 2020 scheme, which provides money for research.
A European Commission spokesman confirmed to Heat Street that the BBC has scooped 3.4 million Euros so far under the programme – £2.7 million – and is allowed to apply for more cash.
The funds are being spent on four separate development projects related to broadcasting but the Commission spokesman could not provide further details at short notice. The money is not supposed to enter the BBC’s editorial budget and the BBC claims it does not.
The £2.7 million figure represents the total funding earmarked for the lifetime of the four projects, some of which last a matter of years.
However, the fact that the BBC applied for and received this money has not been explicitly acknowledged by it anywhere. No BBC press release or BBC online news story exists confirming it had successfully obtained the money and the latest BBC annual accounts do not mention a word about EU funding either.
A BBC spokesman said that because the EU publishes grant details every 12 months, it was up to the public to find out about the funding for themselves from an EU website.
Heat Street has previously noted that the BBC received the equivalent of £71,000 per month between April 2013 and September 2015.
This funding is separate.
The news triggered anger from MPs ahead of next week’s EU referendum on June 23, with questions being raised about the BBC’s impartiality.
As well as a series of EU discussion programmes, the BBC is broadcasting a debate from Wembley on June 21.
Conservative MP Philip Davies said: “If accepting money from the EU is all above board, why is the BBC so reluctant to admit it’s received it? If it’s embarrassed about it, or it’s got something to hide, it shouldn’t apply for it or accept it.”
His colleague Andrew Bridgen added: “Why does the BBC, with its guaranteed £4 billion a year, need this money? Why doesn’t it make clear it has applied for it? And how can it call itself an impartial broadcaster when it comes to the EU question if it’s taking secret backhanders? It’s totally unacceptable.”
The European Commission also confirmed that, between 2007 and 2013, the BBC received 7.7 million Euros from the EU for its participation in 18 projects under a scheme called the EU Research Framework Programme.
Six of these projects are ongoing and the rest have finished.
A BBC spokesman said: “As we’ve explained many times, the BBC protects its impartiality by not permitting any external funding for news programming, which includes European Union grants.”
